Gass 




Book 



' A 



PROCEEDINGS 



or THE 



NATIONAL CONFERENCE 



OF 



COLORED MEN OF THE UNITED STATES. 



HELD IN THE 



STATE CAPITOL AT NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, 



May 6, 7, 8 AND 9, 1879. 




WASHINGTON, D. O. : 

Rui'us H. Darby, Steam Power Printer. 

1879. 



EIiss 

.5 



i2- V^5 ^ 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THK 



NATIONAL CONFERENCE. 



FIRST DAY. 



At 1 o'clock Tuesday, May 6, 1879, ex-Governor P. B. S. Pinch- 
j tck, of Louisiana, advanced to the Speaker's stand of the House 

' Delegates, Nashville, Tenn., and said : 

It was my purpose yesterday, wlien I was notitied that it would be ex- 
oected of me to call this Conference together, to make some extended 
i-emarks foreshadowing what I supposed would be its policy, but nnfore- 
eeeu circumstances have completely unfitted rae for any extended remarks 
H,t this time. We supposed — at least I supposed— the objects of this Con- 
lerence and mode of its formation was so familiar to the people of the 
country that we would meet with no opposition from any class, and more 
especially did we expect to receive a cordial greeting from the coloi-ed 
citizens of Tennessee. Many of us here to-day were here two years ago, 
and we look back to that time with pride and recall with pleasure the 
generous hospitality showered upon us bj^ the people of Nasliville, witli- 
out respect to race or color, and we believed that, coming here at a time 
more important to all classes than at that time was, we would be received 
with open arms, and that every good citizen would give us his support. 

1 am not prepared to say such treatment will be accorded to us. There 
seems to be a disturbing element here disposed to interfere with our delib- 
erations. There seems to be a set of gentlemen, chosen by people in a 
meeting claiming to be delegates, who think they have greater rights 
than we have. Now, we hav(.' no objection to the delegation or other- 
wise, but we form the nucleus of this Conference and we supposed every 
man of good faith would come in iiere and help do the work. I trust 
that will be the result of this gathering, and, whether it is or not, I want 
to say to you, in all sincerity, that there is enough of us, lueu of caliber, 
who, if we do our duty, will leave here proud that we met togetlier. 1 
am satisfied of this. When I was selected to call this meeting I was in- 
structed to call to the chau- a gentleman well known to the country— Mr. 
John R. "Lynch, of Mississippi. I therefore appoint Colonel Lewis of 
Louisiana, Messrs. Bentley of Georgia, and Nicholas of Indiana, to con- 
duct him to the stand. 

Mr. Lynch was then escorted to the stand. On taking the chair 
he said : 

Gentlemen of the Conference: This is an unexpected honor 



4 rROCEEDINQS OP THE 

which you have conferrocl upon nie, ami, being unexpected, you will not 
iTfiuin' of nic any exteuded remarks with regard to the course that is. 
contemplated being pursued bj^ this Conference. I will not attempt to 
map out tlie course that you should ])ursue or to recjounnend what, in my 
judgment, you should do, but still I will take the liberty of making a 
suggestion or tM'o : first, in regard to the aims, objects and purposes that 
the originators of tliis movement have in view, and to express the hope 
that your deliberations maj' !)♦' so characterized and conducted as to re- 
flect credit upon the race with which we are identified, as well as upon 
the country of which we form a part. 

Xow. my friends, a number of gentlemen, wliom you all will agree 
with me, having the interest of the colored people especiallj' at heart, 
came to the conclusion several months ago that it would be advisable to 
have some leading colored men of the country assemble somewhere, not 
in the interest of any particular part}', especially not as Republicans, not 
as Democrats, but as free, independent American citizens, for the pur- 
pose of presenting to the country the grievances of the colored people. 
There were some difl'erencesof opinion as to how best this could be done. 
Some thouglit if we would meet in a convention as political conventions 
are usujdl}' called together, we would get together an organization of 
gentlemen who would best represent the feelings of the colored people, 
but, having considered the matter verj^ maturely, caref uUj^ and consider- 
ately, we came to tlie unanimous conclusion that we would, in all proba- 
bility, get a larger, better and possibly a more influential organization of 
the country, and have extended invitations to gentlemen of the country 
for the purpose of conferring together on the solution, not to speak au- 
thoritatively except as our standing in the community will authorize and 
justify us in doing, but that we would meet and present to the country 
some of the reasons that agitated the public mind in regard to the colored 
people, and Nashville was selected as the place and the 6th day of May 
as the time to have this general assembly. We are here in pursuance of 
that invitation. I am hei'e to meet you and to express the hope that all 
who feel an interest will calmly, deliberately and dispassionatelj^ con- 
sider the questions for which we have been convened, and express the 
further hope that our action will be such as to reflect credit upon us. 

Some things have occurred which U id not present themselves to our at- 
tention. When tiiis movement was inaugurated the present migration 
of colored people from the Southern States had not at that time begun, 
and it was not seriously apprehended that anything of the kind would be 
done, certainly not apprehended it would be done to the extent we find 
it has assumed. This, tiien^fore, was not one of the chief objects for 
which we were convened or requested to convene, for that question did 
not present itself, but has since assumed important proportions. Now it 
is to be hoped we will calmly deliberate on that question. It is a ques- 
tion that demands our attention, attracts the attention of the country. 

I will take the opportunity to make this suggestion, that in considering 
this matter you siionld bear in mind the fact that the South being the 
home of the coIohmI pe()i)le, tliey being adai)ted to its climate, its soil — 
having been ))orn and raised there — we should not advise them to leave 
there unless tiiey have very good reason to do so. On the other hand, we 
should not advise them to remain where they are not well treated. [Ap- 
plause.] But we should endeavor to inculcate in their minds « sufficient 
amount of independence to say to the country and to the people with 
wlioni they are surroiuided, that ''if our la1)or is valua))Ie, then it should 
conunaud ri'si)ect." [Api)lause.] That if we receive this respect, if our 
rigiits and privileges are^ accorded to us here, doing all we can to improve 
our condition, to that (juestion I feel that we should live together. Fur- 
ther than tliat, at least, we should not go. If the colored num can re- 



NATIONAL CONFERENCE. O 

ceive that treatment, attention, consideration and respect lie is entitled 
to under the law in the Soutl), the Soutli is the place for hitn. If not, 
they are jiistilied in receiving it wiiere they can. [Applause.] Tlien let 
us go calmly, dispassionately, and Aviien all classes begin to see their 
mistakes, perhaps all will come togetlier, seal up all past difterences, con- 
ceding the rights of all, and continued peace and harmony and good '\\ill 
and friendsliip will prevail, and the South will prosper. 

J. W. Cromwell, of Virginia, was elected secretary, and F. L. 
Barnett, of Illinois, recording secretary. 

Rev. G. W. Le Vere, of Tennessee, offered prayer. 

J. Henri Burch, of Louisiana, moved thai the secretaries make 
out a roll of delegates. Carried. 

Robert Nicholas, of Indiana, was elected vice-president. 

The Conference then took a recess until 3 p. m. 

AFTERNOON SESSION. 

By the time the hands of the clock in the hall pointed to the 
hour of 3, the galleries were thronged until there was not even 
standing room. 

Ex-Congressman Rapier, of Alabama, was appointed secretary, 
in the absence of one of the regular secretaries. 

John D. Lewis, of Philadelphia, moved the appointment of a 
committee on order of business. 

C. O. H. Thomas, of Tennessee, moved to strike out "five" and 
insert " one from each State." 

Rev. Allan Allensworth, of Kentucky, moved to lay this motion 
on the table, which was lost. 

The original resolution was then adopted, and the Chair an- 
nounced the following committee : J. D. Lewis, of Pennsylvania ; 
James D. Kennedy, of Louisiana; Richard Allen, of Texas; C. O. 
H. Thomas, of Tennessee ; R. R. Wright, of Georgia. 

Governor Pinchback called attention to the fact that the con- 
vention had taken a recess in order to allow a roll of delegates to 
be prepared. He called for the report of the roll of delegates. 

This call was sustained, and the secretary read the roll of dele- 
gates as follows : 

Alabama. — Rev. J. W. Washington, Uniontown; H. C. Binford, box 
.'J3, Courtland; Edward Pope, Samuel Lowery, D. S. Brandon, W. H. 
Council, Huntsville; Rev. W. O. Lynch, Rev. W. H. McAlpine, Marion; 
David Wilson, Rev. J. M. Goodloe, Huntsville; G. S. W. Lewis, Union- 
town; W. .J. Stephens, Selma; J. H. Thomason, Athens; S. P. Smith, 
Stevenson, .Jackson county; Rev. Peter C. ^lurphy, ]SIobile; David Rip- 
ley; Rev. W. H. Ashe, Florence; L. W. Cummins, Mobile; Hon. J. (j. 
Rapier, H. V. Cashin. Montgomery; P. J. Crensliaw, Athens. 

ARKANSAS.— M. W. Gibbs, Little Rock; J. P. .Jones, clerk of Desha, 
Watson; J. R. Rowland, Rev. J. T. .Jenifer, Little Rock; H. W. Wad- 
kins, Arkadelphia; George N. Perkins, Campl^ll; G. B. Antoine, Isaac 
Gillem, Little Rock; David A. Robinson, Pine^Bluff; M. G. Tin-ner, H. 
B. Robinson, Helena; S. H. Holland, Lake Village, Chicot countv. 

Georgia.— Rev. L. H. Holsey, Augusta; C. C. Wimbush, Rev. .L H. 
Wood,S.C.Upshaw, Atlanta; W.B. Higginbotham, Rome; Madison Bloimt; 



PROCEEDINGS or THE 

J. II. Delaiiiotta, Atlanta; Rev. Toby Stewart, Clintoii; Rev. George Val- 
entine. Atlanta; J. W.Brooks, Macon; Moses H. Bentley, Atlanta; W. 
A. Pl.diivr. Athens R. R. Wrijjflit, Cutnbert- 

Illinois.— J. .1. Bird. Cairo; F. T.. Barnett, Chicago. 

Indiana.— R. Nicliolas;, Evansville; .1. VV. James, 184 I.ooust street, 
Evansville; F. D. Morton, 701 Cliestnnt street, Evansville; liev. W. H. 
Anderson, pastor Third Baptist chnrcli, Terra Haute; Rev. Greene AIc- 
Farland, Evansville; S. Daniels, Terre Ilante: Rev. P. W. Jolnison, Indian- 
apolis; J. A. Braboy, Kol<ouio; G. L. Knox, Westtield; J. H. Clay, 
Greeneastle; J. 11. Walker, Terre Haute; Euiraet Stewart, Brazil; J. W. 
Stewart. 

Kansas.— Rev. T. W. Henderson, Topeka. 

Kentucky.— Allan AUensworth, W. H. Nicholl. Horace Lewis, Bow- 
ling (Jreen: G. W. Gentry; G. VV. Darden; Rev. Bishop Miles, Lonis- 
vilie; John Garnett. Glasgow; J. F. C. Snarden. 

Louisiana. — P. B. S. Pinchback, James Lewis, Naval Office, J. 
Henri Bm-ch, Lewis T. Kenner, Jaraes D. Kennedy, Chas. A. Burgeois, 
Xew Orleans. 

Minnesota.— S. E. Hardy, St. Paul. 

Mississippi. — I. R. Lynch, R. W. Fitzhngh, Theo. H. Greene. 
Natchez ; Tlionias Richardson, Port Gibson ; Rev. J. H. Buftord, Stonns- 
ville; David Wilson; VV. H. Maury; B. G. Booth. Water Valley; S. P. 
Cheers. Water Valley ; J. C. Mathews. Holly Springs, 

Missouri.— Wni. R. Lawton, St. Louis ; J. W. Wilson. 

Nebraska. — H. G. Newsom, Hastings. 

Ohio. — Robert Harlan, Cincinnati. 

Oregon. — Rev. D, Jones, Lexington, Ky. 

Pennsylvania.— J. D. Lewis, Wm. Still, Philadelphia; F. J. Lon- 
iliii, Ravenna, Ohio; Dr. C. V. Wiley, Philadelphia. 

South Carolina.— Hon. J. H. Rainey, Windsor. 

Tennessee.— S. F. Griffin, Clarkesville ; Rev. D. E. Asbnry, Paris; 
• J. B. Bosley, Win. Sumner, T. A. Sykes, Nashville ; Rev. Isaac Lane ; 
Rev. R. F. Boyd. Pulaski; J. H. Hendricks, Goodlettsville ; Rev. G. 11, 
Shafe!', J. W. Grant, Na.shville ; T. W. Lott, Jackson ; D. W. Williams. 
Brentwood: L. A. Roberts, Grand Junction; J. H. Kelley, C^olumbia : 
Dr. J. F. McKinley, Nashville; W. C. Hodge, Chattanooga; H. H. 
'IMionipson, Pula-ki ; Randall Brown, Nashville; J. M. Smith, La 
Grange, Fayette county; A. J. Carr ; B. A. J. Nixon, Pulaski ; M. F. 
Womack; A. F. A. Polk; A. N. C. Williams; W. A. llender.son, Jr., 
Chattanooga; B. J. Hadley, J. H. Bm-rus, Rev. D. Wadkins, W. F, 
Yardley. R.-v. G. W. LeVere, J. C. Napier, Rev. C. O. H. Thomas, W. 
F. AndCrson. Nashville. 

TicxAS.— Rieliard Allen, Houston ; Rev. B. F. Williams, East Bernanl 
Station; J. R. Taylor, San Antonio; N. W. Cuney, Galveston ; E. H. 
And'-r.son, Fi.><k Universitv, Nashville, Teini. 

ViuciiNiA.— R. A. Perkins, Lynchbm-g; J.W. ( 'romwell, Washington, 
l>. r.; Joini W. Averitt. Lynchburg. 

Dlstkict of CoLUMHiA.— J. U.S. I'arker, Post Office Department, 
Wa.-hington. 

Tlie (juestion having been raided as to the statu.s of the oflicersof 
the C/onlerence, several delegates ssaid that permanent officers liud 
beeu elected during a tenijiorary organization. 

J. Henri liurch wished it understood that the Conference was 
i'lilly (jrganize(l aiul ready lor buaiiiess. 

(J. \V. (jentry moved that a permanent organization be etfected, 
ami that J. H. Kuiiiey, of South (,'arolina, be permanent chair- 
man. 



NATIONAL CONFERENCE. 7 

Gov. Pincliback. I will explain this matter. I will defend the 
Chair in this 

Here B. F. AVilliams interrupted Gov Pinchback, and desired 
to make a motion, but was ruled out of order. 

Gov. Pinchback. I have the floor. 

There were one or two more interruptions, but Gov. Pinchback 
was declared to have the floor, as no motioA could be made while 
he had the floor. He said that the Chair could not be forced to 
make an explanation, and he therefore rose in his defense. It was 
the intention of the primary convention held the night before to 
map out the work of the body, and the executive committee usurped 
no power in doing that which would command the respect of the 
public. [Applause.] The Speaker had been urged to accept the 
position he occupied. If there was any man iu the convention who 
wanted the position he was not fit for it. [Applause.] The time 
had come when the office should seek the man and not the man the 
office. [Applause.] 

B. F. Williams, of Texas, said he arose to ask for information. 
He said : " I have come a long ways, but I seem to be behind the 
times. [Laughter,] I ask it as a favor to be heard in the name 
of an old man. I feel I am not up to this crisis." 

A Delegate. " What is the crisis?" which remark Mr. Williams 
did not catch. Said he, continuing, " I want to find out what in 
all this convention is buried, hid, [laughter,] ai)d some one fears 
the other is going to get to it first. [Laughter and applause.] 
Some one seems to think some one will somewhere be debarred 
from it." 

A Delegate. The gentleman is discussing something not before 
the house. 

Mr. Williams. I think this meeting is exactly before the house, 
[laughter,] and, as a part and parcel of this meeting, I am before 
the house. [Renewed laughter.] I wish to learn whether anybody 
is to be rewarded for coming here. There seems to be a terrible 
anxiety that some one will not be honored. 

A Delegate. I rise to a point of order. 

Mr. Williams, (pointing his finger toward the person interrupting 
him.) Now, look ahere, you are a young man, [laughter,] and I 
ask it as a favor as an old man — I migrated from this State forty- 
six years ago, and by the time you have had my experience, if you 
have had heard the prayers of our forefathers and mothers, [up- 
roarious laughter,] you would feel this Conference was more like a 
house of mourning. Let us not come here seeking honor, to be 
looked up to as a great man. The man that is the greatest man 
let him furnish the greatest amount of brains. [Laughter and ap- 
plause.] Mr. President, there is something the matter — something 
the matter somewhere ; somebody is auft'eriug ; somebody is iu need; 
somebody needs help, and the assembly wants to know where this 
help is to come from. [Applause and laughter.] There are a good 



8 PROCEKDINGS OF TtTE 

many peoplo here who seem to feel a tickling in their heels. [Im- 
mense applause from the galleries, followed by uproarious and pro- 
longed applause.] 

Ex -Congressman Rainey, of South Carolina, said he hoped there 
would be no further manifestations from the galleries, as it was 
not treating the Conference with proper respect. 

Rev. Daniel Wadkins, of Nashville, oftered the following: 

Tnasmuch as many of our people have mistaken the call for a National 
Confcroiioo to hi' a call for a National Convention, and, acting upon this 
mislalvc. have ln-hl meetings and elected delegates to meet in Nashville on 
the (Itli of May. 1879; and as tliese persons and delegates have incurred 
the expense of hoth time and money in so doing; 

ResoU-ed. Tliat we now invite tliem to seats in this Conference, to par- 
ticipate in fnll with those invited hi' the National Executive Connnittee. 

jResolced. Tiiat this invitation he extended to all so elected and sent 
from otiicr States and Territories and from ditlerent counties in this 
State, hut not to any claiming the right from any meeting held in David- 
son county. 

No action was taken on the resolutions. 

W. F. Yardley, of Tennessee, read the following resolution : 

Henoh-ed, That tlie present ofiicers of the Conference be and they are 
declared to be the permanent officers of this hody. 

G. S. W. Lewi.s, of Alabama, said the delegates should at least 
have the right to choose their own officers. He seconded the resolu- 
tion. 

Ex-Congressman Rapier, of Alabama, asked, if the temporary 
officers should be removed, would it not invalidate all the action of 
the morning? 

The Chairman. No. 

The previous question was then demanded and the resolution was 
adopted. This action was loudly applauded. 

John D. Lewis, of Philadelphia, moved the appointment of a 
vice-president from each State. 

Several motions to table this resolution were made and were de- 
clared out of order. The motion was read as a resolution, and a 
call for the previous question on its adoption was not sustained. 

M. II. Jicntley asked what was the object of the resolution. 

John D. Lewis said it was simply a matter of honor. 

Mr. Bentley said they did not have time for honors. They didn't 
come here for honor, but for business. He moved to table the res- 
olution. 

A vote was then taken on this motion and it was adopted. 

A division was called for and 87 voted to table the resolution. 

J.ll.Burrus briefly eulogized the Jubilee Singers, and moved 
that they Ix' re((uested to sing one or two of their songs. This was 
adopted unanimously, and tlie Jubilee Singers appeared and were 
introduced to the (Conference ami<l great applause. 

The sung, "Steal Away to Jesus," was rendered in splendid style, 



NATIONAL CONFERENCE. 9 

and was followed by a burst of applause. The " Lord's Prayer" 
was then chanted in equally as good style, and was followed by 
similar applause. The following are the names of the singers who 
were present: Miss Maggie Porter, Miss G. M. Gordon, Messrs. H. 
D. Alexander, B. W. I'homas, Calvin Anderson, F. J. Loudin. 

Rev. J. T. Jenifer offered the following preamble and resolution, 
which was addpted : 

Whereas we, the delegates of the colored citizens of the United States, 
iu Conference assembled, havino: heard with so much delight the sweet 
songs of the celebrated Jubilee Sinfi:ers ; 

Bciolved, That we do hereby express our delight and thanks, and most 
respectfully request them to give us an entertainment at such a time as 
shall be liereaf ter arranged. 

Rev. Allan Allensworth offered a resolution providing for the 
appointment of a committee of nine on resolutions. Referred. 

Richard Allen, of Texas, moved for a committee of nine on rules. 
Referred. 

C. O. H. Thomas asl'ed that all members of the Conference who 
had papers, be allowed to have them referred to the appropriate 
committees. He also moved that some of these papers be now 
read. 

The Chair said papers could be so referred. 

Rev. D. Wadkins offered the following resolution : ' 

In order to concentrate our thoughts and expedite the business of the 
Conference, 

Resolved, That we define the work to be— first, to ascertain as near as 
practicable the present condition of the colored people in the United 
States and Tenitories; and second, to suggest tiie proper course for them 
to pursue to amelioi'ate said condition. 

The resolution was referred to the Committee on Resolutions. 

Ex-Congressman Rainey offered a resolution calling for a com- 
mittee on finance to collect funds for stationery, printing, &c. He 
also suggested that two pages should be appointed. The resolution 
was adopted. 

Rev. G. H. Shafer offered a resolution that the delegates be seated 

by States. Agreed to. 

Rev. Allan Allensworth moved that Gooch and John Merry 

be appointed pages. Carried. 

J. A Braboy, of Indiana, offered the following resolutions: 

Resolved, That it is the duty of tliis Conference to hear the grievances 
of our Soutliern bretlu'en concerning their impaired rights, concerning 
education, and all their rigiits as American citizens, politics excepted. 

Resolved. That unless the white friends take immediate steps to guar- 
antee such rio-lits, tiiere will be an immediate emergency exist foi- an en- 
tire exodus of the I'ace from tlie States in oi-der to ameliorate their condi- 
tion. 

Resolved, 'Hiat it is tlie duty of this Conference to appomt an execu- 
tive oonuiiittee at the ca})ital of each State of tlje several States to aid, if 



10 , PR00EEBING8 OF THE 

deemcil luccssaiy. in lofatiui^- tli('s(> colonies in Mie various States, in order 
tliat tiu'v may make a jy;ood llvino^ and educate their children, 

Resolreil, Tliat tliis Conference should take steps by appointing one 
man from each State, wliose duty it sliall be to call a national convention 
of the Republiciins, the convention to meet in Cincinnati, to take under 
consideration tiieir political riglits, and any other business they may deem 
proper. 

The resolutions were referred. 

W. A. Pledger oftered a resolution providing that all resolutions 
relating to migration be first referred to the Southern delegates. 
Referred. 

.1. Henri Burch asked if merely reading a resolution constituted 
a reference. 

The Chair stated that the resolution had been referred at the re- 
quest of the introducer. 

Mr. Pledger said his resolution had been jeered at. He would 
be with them on any resolution which might hereafter be intro- 
duced. 

W. H. Anderson, of Indiana, said he meant no reflection on any 
one. 

Colonel Lewis, of Louisiana, suggested that the apologies of both 
paities be accepted. 

G. S. W. Lewis offered the following, which was referred : 

Resolved^ That the action of the I'ailroad conductoi's, in forcibly eject- 
ing the ladies of tiie Jubilee Singers from tlie ladies' ear, merits our un- 
< li vided condemnation: 

John D. Lewis, of Pennsylvania, from the Committee on the 
Order of Business, made the following report, which was adopted : 

Tiie (Committee on Ordei' of Business beg leave to submit tiie follow- 
ing : 

1. Tiiey reconmiend tiiat tiie Conference meet daily at i) a. in., and re- 
luain in session until 12 m. Tlie Conference to take a recess until 2 p. m., 
wlien it will remain in session until 5 p. m. 

2. The morning session ro be o])ened with jirayer. 
;i. Krading of minutes. 

-1. lifporl of committees. 
;■». New business. 

0. Heading of papers. 

7. Discussion <»ii said papers. 

We recommend the appointment of the following-named committees, 
to con>^ist of live nieuilier- each : 

1. Migi-atioii. 

2. lOilueiitiou and Lalior. 

;{. I'eruianeut Organization. 

4. lie^i.lutions. 

."*. Tiie ( 'olored Press. 

(;. Addres- and llesolutions. 

The resolution referred to your coininiriee to apjjoiiit a commitlee on 

.. itiles lia< been duly considei'ed, and we I'eeoinmend that "' ( usliing's 

Manual '' Ix- adopted as the guide for the government of this body. Your 

eoiiimitlee further recommend that debate on all questions brought be- 

loif this Coiiferenee, except tlie subject of migration, be limited to seven 



NATIONAL f'ONFERENCE. 11. 

minutes, and in no caso siiall a member be allowed to speak moi-e llimi 
twice on the s;ame (jiiestion without lUKiiiimous consent. 

.J. D. IjEWIS, President. 

James I). Kennedy. 

R. H. Wkicuit. 
' Richard Allen. 

CO. H. Thomas. 

A question then arose as to whether gas could be secured for a 
night session. 

J. Henri Burch said no ; they had gas only in the day time. 

G. L. Knox, of Indiana, said there was no use going through 
the streets in the day time in order to hold a night session. Tliere 
was an impression abroad that the Northern delegates had come 
liere to take away the colored people in the Southern States from 
their homes. That was not so. 

The Conference then adjourned until 9 o'clock to-morrow morn- 
ing. 

After the Conference had adjourned an invitation to visit Cen- 
tral Tennessee College was read, and action thereon deferred. 



SECOND DAY. 

The National Colored Conference was called to order at 9 o'clock 
by Permanent Chairman Lynch, and the proceedings were opened 
with prayer by Rev. J. T. Jenifer. 

The Chairman stated that it was not necessary to read an ex- 
tended report of the proceedings of the day befoi'e, as the American 
bad very courteously made si very full and correct report of the 
proceedings, which possibly all had read. 

The reading of the minutes was accordingly dispensed with. 

On motion of Hon. James T. Rapier, of Alabama, the names of 
H. V. Cashin and P. J. Crenshaw were added to the list of delegates 
from Alabama. 

Rev. J. T. Jenifer said that while they were much obliged to the 
press for an extended report, the Conference should not be under 
obligations to the American, for a more correct report of the names 
of the delegates than had been furnished by the committee. In 
many cases he found that the names were more correctly reported 
in the American than on the rolls. 

The Chairman said that all delegates, when they arose, should 
announce their names and State, and then they would be certain to 
be reported correctly. 

A request was made by the Chairman that there be no applause 
in tlie galleries. 

Rev. T. W. Henderson, of Kansas, was enrolled as a delegate. 

Governor Pinch back moved to increase the membership of the 
various committees from five to one from each State, or seventeen 
in each committee, that number of Staler being ropre.-ented. 



12 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 

After consitlerable discussion, Rev. Allan Allensworth, of Ken- 
tucky, called the previous question. 

Governor Pinch back's motion then prevailed. 

Invitations from the Central Tennessee College, Nashville Insti- 
tute and Frsk University, were read. 

Rev. Allan Allensworth moved that a special committee of five 
be appointed to report what time it would be best for the Confer- 
ence to visit the above institutions. 

J. D. Lewis, of Pennsylvania, moved as a substitute that the 
invitations be referred to the Committee on Education and Labor. 
Carried. 

J. R. Taylor, of San Antonio, Texas, was enrolled as a delegate. 

Rev. W. H. McAlpin, of Alabama, offered the following reso- 
lution : 

Whereas there are questions of vast importance to come before the 
body; therefore 

Resolved^ That certain hours be set apart to consider the report of eacli 
conuiiittee, and tliat a committee of three be appointed to arrange the 
time for eaoli committee to report and to consider said report. 

Referred. 

By J. Henri Burch, of Louisiana : 

Jiesolced, That the printed report of the recent Labor Convention held 
at Vicksburg, Miss., on May 3 to 6, be referred to the Committee on Migra- 
tion, wlien appointed, with a request that they report back to this Con- 
vention whether, in their opinion, the real causes and remedies for tiie 
present exodus appear in any part of said report. 

Referred. 

By R. R. Wright : 

Resolved. Tiuit eacli delegation of the several States submit to this Con- 
ference, by written report, prior to the discussion of the topic of migra- 
tion, a succinct statement of the true condition of the masses, oi" country 
inhabitants, of their respective States with regard to labor and education ; 
and be it fin-thcr 

liesolftil. That such sfatenicnt govi^rn the action of this Conference 
>vith respect to tlie subject of migration. 

Referred. 

By W. H. Council, of Alabama: 

Resolved, Tliat whereas tlie i)i-in(i])al business men and farmers have 
entered into eontracfs for tlie jjrcseiit yea i. we deem tills an untimely 
season to a^jitate tlie (juestion of niinratioii. believing that it would prove 
di-trinienlai to Ihe interests of all (tonceriied. 

'2. Tliat we are opposed to a general and sudden exodus of our people 
for any jiart of the country, but recommend a careful consideration of the 
matter for all who desire to mi;^rate, :ind aft<r such mature consideration 
ami calm rellection. if tliey ave safNlied that their condition can be im- 
])rove(| by emii,natioii, we advise jrradual mi^iiatioii. 

^ ;{. 'i'liat the eiiiijiration question should l)e considered aj.ail from poli- 
t\a. and should i»e based upon business ealculatioii. 

Referred. 



NATIONAL CONFERENCE. 13 

By J. H. Burrus, of Nashville: 

Whereas by the history of the bo^fhiiiing, pro^j^rcss and final triumph of 
the idea of the ria^ht of the people in contradistinction of the Divine riglit 
of kings in the Old World, and by the inception and glorious terniinatioii 
of the "irrepressible conflict" between freedom and slavery in this coun- 
try, as well as by tlie beginning, progress and successful ending of all 
progressive and liberal thought, new ideas in the Avorld, we are admon- 
ished of the great need of the continual agitation of the question of fami- 
liar wrong to be supplanted by unfamiliar riglit; be it therefore 

Resolved by this Conference^ That we recommend to our people every- 
where not to cease to protest before the civilized world and their fellow- 
citizens against the unjust, invidious and unchristian discrimination 
against their civil rights as American citizens now practiced in these United 
States, especially the Southern States. 

Referred. ^ 

By F. D. Morton, of Indiana : 

Whereas there are many subjects of the greatest import to the coloi-ed 
citizens of this country, both as a part and a whole ; and 

Whereas there are manj- of the ablest and most talented members of 
this Conference who have spent some time in preparing to make a special 
eftbrt upon the subject of migration and others of equal import ; there- 
fore 

Resolved^ That a committee of three be appointed to receive the names 
of such persons who have especially prepared themselves upon any of the 
important questions which have been collected for the consideration of 
this Conference. 

Resolved^ TJ^iat a special time be designated and announced, together 
with the name of the person or persons who desire to present the result 
of their investigation to this Conference. 

Referred. 

Samuel Lowery, of Alabama, asked to present the following : 

Whereas the Democratic party of the South have proclaimed to the 
world tha this is a white man's Government, made expressly for tliem, 
and that they will not sufter, at the peril of tlieir lives, the choice of col- 
ored men to positions of honor and emoluments where they are in the 
majority ; and that they will resort to the disruption of this Government 
rather than sufter or permit the civil and political equality of our race in 
the South ; and 

Whereas we have trusted in vain the hope to enjoy perfect and com- 
plete libeity in this land of our ancestry, from whose unpaid labors its 
wealth and prosperity have sprung, and the pledge given us by the true 
Republicans of the Xorth for freedom and human rights have been stealth- 
ily snatched from us and our postei'itj^ in encroachments, without any 
prospective redress. We are denied the right of a trial by a jury of our 
countrymen, in the administration of the judicial laws of Alabama, and 
as a consequence misdemeanors are executed as felonies, and the courts, 
as now administered, are crowding the prisons, coal mines and peniten- 
tiary, where our race are sold into slavery as in the days of yore, under 
the pretense and forms of law. They deny to us school piivileges to 
improve the minds of our youths equall}\ We toil by day and niglit to 
make more cotton for the landlord than we did in slaver}^ and we enjoy 
no more than one peck of meal and two and a half pounds of poi'k with 
the labor of our women and children. 

Therefore, believing the Loi"d has provided a land of freedom where we 



14 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 

('.■111 cnjo.v all till' rijjliLs of luiinauity, and lias opened the hearts of the 
Christian men and women of the American people of the North to aid us 
in onr strncrorlc to settle on them, and as a convention of the most prom- 
inent nK'ii of our race will siiorMy assemble at Nashville to perfect and 
complete sneh a settlement, tyi such a basis or plan which vvUl promote 
our success and the pride and glory of the American ijeople ; therefore, 
be it 

. Resolved, That this meeting send to the Nashville convention dele- 
gates, and pledge onr eflbrts to aid this cause for onr freedop, and we ap- 
pouit an executive committee of fifteen colored men to organize this 
work. Referred. 

George M. Perkins, of Arkansas, moved that no mox-e resolutions 
be offered for the present. Carried. 

On motion of W. F. Yardley, of Tennessee, Taylor Miller, of 
Rutherford, and J. H. Hopkins, of Maury county, were admitted 
to the floor of the Conference. He said they had been elected del- 
egates under the impression that the Conference would be a con- 
vention. 

Colonel Robert Harlan, of Ohio, moved that papers be now read, 
that the President might retire and appoint committees. Carried. 

Vice-President Robert Nicholas was then called to the chair, and 
the President retired. 

J. W. Cromwell, the clerk, then read a paper from Dr. A. T. Au- 
gusta, of Washington, D. C, on the sanitary condition of the col- 
ored people of the United States. [See Appendix A.] 

W. H. Council, of Alabama, and Hon. J. H. Rainey, of South 
Carolina, commended the paper. The latter said : 

Mr. President, I desire to ask indulgence of the Conference for a short 
time, while 1 submit a few remarks, in order that those i^i-esent migiit un- 
derstand who the autiior of the paper just read really is. Dr. Augnsta 
is a genth^maii of eoloi-, a practicing physician, and a resident of thv city 
of Washington. He was the first medical and surgical officer of our race 
who was admitted to rank in the army of the United States — being the 
tirst having the manhood and temerity to apply and risk the ordeal of a 
rigid examination, to wliieh he was subjected. 

_ To tlie credit of liimself and iiis race lie passed a successful examina- 
tion, and it is worthy of note to say that he continued in the faithful and 
satisfactory discharge of his ofllcial duty until the close of the war. Sir, 
it is a source of pride, and inexpressible gratification to know that we have 
thos(; fully identitied with us possessing so high an order of talent as to 
treat intelligently scientific as well as other subjects of vital interest to us. 
Among us we have men of capacity and breadth of comprehension, giv- 
ing them the power to grapple wilii intricate questions, involving litei-a- 
turc. science, medicine, h.vgiene, and various other prominent bianelK^s. 
We have no sjiecjal fault to find with onr color, hut we have cause for 
I'.iiiil-linding w hen that is made tlie groniid on wiiicli to construct preju- 
diw^ and proscription against us. 

The o[)i>()rl unity has come and is now at liand when, despite oppression 
and other nnreasoiial)le oi)posiiig elements, we will demonstrate our true 
manhood. We iiave shown onr bravery in the late war by fighting under 
llag lliat gave ns no iirotectioii, and for agovernment tiiat repudiated and 
ignored onr i-iglits. 

Let us strive as true men — press on enuilathig the good combinations 



NATIONAL CONFERENCE. 15 

to be found in the character of the white man, and slum .scrupulously his 
vices. ' 

J. W. Cromwell, of Virginia, made some remarks complimentary 
to Dr. Augusta. 

Elder Daniel Wadkins, of Tennessee, raised the point of order 
that they had come here to discuss subjects and not men. 

Vice-President Nicholas said the reason he did not entertain the 
point of order was from the fact that whenever they could tind a 
colored man whom they could eulogize, they should eulogize him. 
[Loud applause.] 

Secretary Cromwell then read a paper written by J. C. Corbiu, 
of Arkansas, on the political status of the colored people. [See 
Appendix B.] 

J. T. Jenifer, of Arkansas, oftered the following : 

Whereas this Conference of the colored citizens of the United States is 
one of the most Interesting and important assemblies ever convened in 
America; and 
Wliereas the proceedings of this Conference should be published, 
Resolved, That the Committee on Finance be most respectfully re- 
quested to propose some plan to the Conference for the publication of the 
proceedings in pamphlet form . 

Adopted. 

Several delegates desired to discuss the papers immediately after 
their being read. 

The Chairman decided that according to parliamentary usage 
this could not be done. An appeal was taken from his decision 
declaring out of order a call for the previous question on a motion 
to have the papers immediately discussed. During the discussion 
which followed it was observed that Rev. Daniel Wadkins, of Ten- 
nessee, made a dozen several and distinct efforts to obtain the floor, 
but failed. 

At this juncture the Chairman resumed his place, and, before 
any action was taken on the pending question, the hour of 12 had 
arrived and the Conference adjourned until 2 p. m. 

AFTERNOON SESSION. 

The Conference reassembled at 2 p. m. 

The following list of committees appointed by the President was 
then read : 

Resolutions and Address. — Hon. P. B. S. Pinch back, Louisiana; Hon* 
M. \V. Gibbs, Arkansas; Thomas Richardson, ^lississippi; Allan Aliens- 
worth, Kentucky; J. W. Wilson, Missouri; Rev. W. H. Ashe, Alabama; 
W. A. Pledger, Georgia; J. W. Cromwell, Virginia; J. H. S. Parker, 
District of Columbia; Richard Allen, Texas; D. -Jones, Oregon; William 
Still, Pennsylvania; J. .J. Bird, Illinois; Colonel Robert Harlan, Oliio; 
H. G. Newsoni, Nebraska; Hon. J. II. Rainejs Soutli Carolina; S. E. Hardy, 
Minnesota; W. F. Yardley, Tennessee; F. D. Morton, Indiana; Rev. T. 
W. Henderson, Kansas. 

Education and Labor.— J. W. Cromwell, Virginia; H. C. Binford, 



16 PROCEEDINGS OP THE 

Alabama; J. T. Jenifer, Arkansas; J. 11. Burrus, Tennessee; T. H. Green, 
Mississippi; W. H. Nichol, Kentucky; Colonel James Lewis, Louisiana; 
4-~iT. W. Wilson, Missouri; R. R. Wrio ^ht, Geor gia; J. H. S. Parker, District 
' of Cohnuhia; J. K. Tay\or, Texas; D. Jones, Oregon; F. J. Loudin, 
Pennsylvania; John J. Bird, Illinois; Colonel Robert liarlan, Ohio; H. 
G. Newsom, Nebraska; Hon, J. H. Rainey, South Carolina; S.E. Hardy, 
Minnesota; J. H. Walker, Indiana; T. W. Henderson, Kansas. 

Resolutions.— lion. J. H. Rainejs South Carolina; G. S. W. Lewis, 
Alabama; Isaac Gilleni, Arkansas; T. W. Henderson, Kansas; W. H. 
Maury, Mississippi; John Garnett, Kentucky; Louis T. Kenner, Louisi- 
ana; J. AV. Wilson, Missoiu-i; Rev. Toby Stewart, Geoi-gia; R. A. Perkins, 
Virginia; J. H. S. Parker, District of Columbia; E. H. Anderson, Texas; 
D. Jones, Oregon; William Still. Pennsylvania; J. J. Bird, Illinois; Col- 
onel Robert Harlan. Ohio; H. G. Newsom, Nebraska; G. H. Shafer, 
Tennessee; J. A. Braboj', Indiana; S. E. Hardy, Minnesota. 

Permanent Organization. — J. D. Lewis, Pennsylvania; Rev. W. II. 
McAlpine, Alabama; J. P. Jones, Arkansas; Rev. G. W. LeVere, Ten- 
nessee; J. H. Bufford, Mississippi; J. F. C. Snowden, Kentucky; C. A. 
Bourgeois, Louisiana; W. R. Lawton, Missouri; T. W. Henderson, Kan- 
sas; J. H. Delamotte, Georgia; R. A. Perkins, Virginia; J. H. S. Parker, 
District of Columbia; E. H. Anderson, Texas; D. Jones, Oregon; F. 1j. 
Barnett, Illinois; Colonel Robt. Harlan, Ohio; H. G. Newsom, Nebraska; 
Hon. J. H. Rainey, South Carolina; S. E. Hardy, Minnesota; Rev. W. 
H. Anderson, Indiana. 

Colored Press. — F. L, Barnett, Illinois; W. F. Anderson, Tennes- 
see; David Wilson, Mississippi; Bishop William H. Miles. Kentucky; Jas. 
D. Kennedj', Louisiana; W. R. Lawton, Missouri; David A. Robinson, 
Arkansas; Samuel Lowery, Alabama; C. C. Wimbush, Georgia; J. W. 
Cromwell, Virginia; J.H. S. Parker, District of Columbia; Richard Allen, 
Texas; D. Jones, Oregon; John D. Lewis, Pennsylvania; Colonel Robert 
Harlan, Ohio; H. G. Newsom, Nebraska; T. W. Henderson, Kansas; 
J. W. James, Indiana; Hon. J. H. Rainey, South Carolina; S. E. Hardy, 
^linnesota. 

Migration. — J. T. Rapier, Alabama; George W. Perkins, Arkansas; 
T. W. Henderson, Kansas; J. C. Napier, Tennessee; R. W. Fitzhngh, 
Mississippi; G. "W. Gentry, Kentucky; J. Henri Burch, Louisiana; AV. R. 
I^awton, Missouri; W. B. Iligginbotham, Georgia; John Averitt, Virginia; 
J. H. S. Parker, District of Columbia; B. F. Williams, Texas; D. Jones, 
Oregon; John D. Lewis, Pennsylvania; F. L. Barnett, Illinois; Robert 
Harlan, Ohio; H. G. Newsom, Nebraska; J. H. Rain(>y, South Cai-olina; 
S. E. Hardy, Minnesota; G. L. Knox, Indiana. 

The secretary was requested to read several communications or 
letters from persons unable to attend the convention, among which 
was the following : 

Charleston Colored Western Emigration Society, 

Charleston, S. C, April 30, 1870. 
At a meeting of the said society, lield at the residence of the chairman 
on the :{()th day of April, 187!), to take into consideration the question of 
wiiat tills society shall do in response to the call issued by our fellow-suf- 
ferers, till' friend-; and promoters of tin; movement for the emigration of 
the colored people from the former Southern slave States of the Union 
to the free States and Territories of the country, for a convention to be 
held at Nashville, Tenn., on the 6tli daj' of May proximo, the officers of 
this society and many other persons interested being present, and an in- 
formal discussion and free interchange of views upon the subject being 
had, it is on motion voted — 



NATIONAL CONFERENCE. 17 

1. That it is with ivgivt tliat this society find? it impossible to have 
personal repi'esentatiou at the said convention, and 

2. That tills society, now eonntlng many adherents and coadjutors in 
South Carolina, herewitli sends its liearty greetings to the convention at 
Xashville, and pledges co-operation by every lawful means in our power 
in carrying out the plans and purposes which said convention in its wis- 
dom may devise and promulgate for tlie accomplisliment of tlie common 
object of removing our people from the scenes of their great tribula- 
tions. 

The colored population of the United States throughout the entire land, 
when the Government by the perfid3'of tlie very people who now oppress 
US, had to maintafn a gigantic struggle at arms to preserve its existence, 
was faithful among the faithless found. 

In slavery itself, when smitten on, the one cheek, we turned also the 
other ; we bided our time. But it hath pleased God to weaken the gall- 
ing chains of slavery, so far as that consummation could be efteeted by 
law. But what is mere freedom to man without civil and political rights ? 
Literally, we have no rights here which a white man is bound to respect. 
^Ve are as lambs among wolves. If, at the risk of our lives, we approach 
the polls to vote at an election, our vote when deposited is rendered in- 
operative and ineft'ectual by the deposit by a political opponent of a pack 
of fifty tissue; ballots, or otherwise our vote is wholly suppressed outright 
and never counted for the candidate of our choice. In the courts the col- 
ored man obtains no justice; partiality is the order there. The boast is 
proudly made that this is a wliite government. 

Let us appeal to tlie good people of the country to aid us in changing 
the place of our abode to the free States and Territories. We have will- 
ing hands as ever ; we have stro-ng arms still. We are sneeringly told 
that we are poor and have not the means of defraying our expenses in re- 
moving from here to the free States and Territories. We liave no apol- 
ogy to make for our poverty. Itcomes illy from those who have enjoyed 
our unrequited labor for hundreds of years the taunt that we are poor. 

Voted that the foregoing, signed -by the ofHcers of this society, be trans- 
mitted to the Nashville convention, with the request that the officers of 
said convention furnish this society with a certified copy of the proceed- 
ings of the said convention, and with such other papers as they may be 
in possession of of interest. M. G. Chajviplin, Chairman. 

James N. Hayne, Secretary. 

Having read the above communication, J. H. Burrus, of Ten- 
nessee, moved the reference of it and other letters to the Executive 
Committee, which motion was adopted and the papers so referred, 
after motions to lay on the table, a call for the previous question, 
and a reference to a special committee had been voted down. 

C. O. H. Thomas, of Tennessee, called up the motion which was 
pending when the Conference adjourned at noon, in reference to 
the immediate discussion of papers after they had been read. 

The Chairman ruled that the motion for an immediate discus- 
sion was in violation of the rules of order which had been adopted. 
The papers were not properly before the house until read and re- 
ceived, and a reference to a committee was the proper course to be 
taken for such papers or communications. 

A resolution was adopted, on. .motion of J. D. Kennedy, that 
when the order of business was announced the roll should be called 
by States for business under that head. 

2 



18 PROCKECSNGS OP THE 

Ex-Governor Pinchback made the point of order that the read- 
ing of papers was the present order of business, which point of order 
was^ustained. 

R. Allen, of Texas, offered the following: 

Resolved^ That this Conference, before it adjourns, elect a board of 
coi'ninifisloners on mio:ration, consisting of one gentleman from each State, 
to wliicli all questions of migration may be referred. 

Referred. 

C. 0. H. Thomas, of Tennessee, desired to speak on a question of 
privilege. 

The explanation which Mr. Thomas was seeking was given by 
the President. 

The Secretary then read a paper from Wm. Stewart, of Bridge- 
ton, N. J., on the "Necessity of a National Review Devoted to 
the Interests of the Negro-American." [See Appendix C] 

C. O. H. Thomas moved that thirty minutes discussion be allowed 
on the three papers which had been read. 

The Chairman. Will the gentleman let me explain? 

Mr. Thomas. Yes ; and be as plain as you can. 

The Chairman. Then you cannot do what you desire by a discus- 
sion. The papers should be referred and we should have a report 
on these papers, and then we should have something to talk about. 

Mr. Thomas. Then only the men who have prepared themselves 
can now be heard ? 

The Chairman. That is the only interpretation that can be placed 
upon it. 

Rev. G. H. Shaffer. I move that each paper, when presented, be 
not read, but referred to the committee on the subject, and then let 
discussion follow on the report. 

The motion was tabled by a vote of 60 to 45. 

The reading of the next paper was called for. 

The Chairman stated the next paper to be read was one by Bishop 
Miles, on the "Moral and Social Condition of the Negro." The 
reading of this paper was deferred for the present. 

Rev. Allan Allensworth arose to a pointof gallantry, stating that 
several gentlemen weresitting while ladies were standing. A change 
in position, as suggested by the delegate from Kentucky, was accord- 
ingly made. 

The next paper on the programme was one by William Still, on 
the "Op{)ortunities and Capabilities of Educated Negroes." [See 
Appendix I).] 

As soon as the reading of this paper was concluded a number 
of delegates arose and endeavored to obtain the floor, ineffectually, 
however. 

C O. II. Thomas endeavored to discuss the [)aper, but was ruled 
out of order. 

The following resolutions were offered by S. C. Upshaw, of 
Georgia : 



NATIONAL CONFERFlNCE. 19 

Whereas both the members of this Conference and the citizens at laro;e 
are anxious to have a more direct knowledge of the educational, social, 
linaucial and political condition of our people ; therefore 

Resolved, Tliat one or more members of each delcj;ation from the South- 
ern States be requested and allowed ten minutes for the purpose of delib- 
eratini? upon the above subjects; and, fm-ther, that a designated hour be 
agreed upon for the above consideration. 

By R. R. \ yri^ht. of Gp.o rp^ia, i, 

Eesolved,' That it is the sense of this Conference that we liighly appre- 
ciate and commend the action of Senator Windom and others who are 
striving to systematize the exodus of our despairing bretln-en from the 
oppressing South. 

Resolved, Tiiat we hold in grateful remembrance the generous and lib- 
eral response of a portion of the country toward relieving our distressed 
and fleeing countrymen. 

By W. A. Pledger : 

Whereas matters pertinent to the colored race may arise that may 
necessitate the calling of a convention or conference unless otherwise 
provided for; therefore 

Resolved, That an executive committee, composed of one delegate from 
each State, be appointed by the Chair. 

Resolved, That the chairman of this convention be the chairman of that 
committee. 

Referred to the Committee on Permanent Organization. 
By Samuel Lowery, of Alabama : A resolution in reference to 
extending a welcome address to Gen. U. S. Grant. Referred, 
By Rev. P. C. Murphy, of Alabama : 

Whereas the various courts of the Southern States have denied the col- 
ored man the right of sitting on j^n-ies where civil and political acts are 
involved ; therefore 

Resolved, That we, in National Conference assembled, do feel aggrieved 
as citizens of the United States of America, and ask that something be 
done. 

Referred. 

By M. H. Bentley, of Georgia: 

Resolved, That before taking final steps towards emigration, we ask for 
and demand our political rights in the South. 

Resolved Jurther, That in States where there are eight or nine Con- 
gressmen, Ave claim a representative of two of them ; where there are 
three or four districts, we claim one, and in that proportion tln-oughout 
the Southern States. 

Resolved, That the various districts now represented by wliite members 
take in rotation, each in turn, for colored representation. 

Referred. 

By John J. Bird, of Illinois : 

Whereas the late Labor Convention, held in Yicksburg, did, among 
other things, set forth the following, to wit : " The apprehension on the 
part of man}" colored people, produced b}' insidious reports circulated 
among them, that their civil and political rights are endangered, or likely 
to be ;" and 

Whereas said declaration does, as is common among the class of men 



20 PROCEEmNGS OF THE 

largely roproseiited in said convention, seek to avoid the real issues un* 
dcrlyino: tli«' widespread and deep-seated dissatisfaction existing among 
oiir jjeople in several of tlie Southern States; and, 

Whereas it is tiie sense of tliis( Jonference that the object of calling said 
convention one day in advance of this Conference, was intended to fore- 
stall its action on the snbject of emigration; therefore 

Jiesolred, Tiiat we, the representatives of the colored people of the 
United States, in National Conference assembled, do hereby deprecate 
snch action, and denoniice this wanton refusal to admit facts as they ex- 
ist in regard to tlie political proscription, murderous and unjustifiable as- 
saults upon innocent citizens in their midst, wiiose only oftense is that 
they seek to exercise the rights accorded to them under the laws of our 
laud and country. 

Resolved^ Tiiat we will not, shall not. receive these specious promises 
as a sufficient guarantee for futui'c protection, but accept them as cun- 
ningly devised schemes to stay the present exodus of the colored people, 
who are seeking in a legitimate and praiseworthy manner to relieve them- 
selves from the wrongs and oppression \\lnch liave debased their labor, 
cruslied tli<'ir manhood, and denied them tlieir inalienable and constitu- 
tional riglits. 

Referred. 

Governor Pinchback moved that in order to give the committees 
time to work, the Conference, when it adjourned, adjourn to meet 
at 12 m. to-morrow. 

This met with a good deal of opposition, C. O. H. Thomas, of 
Tennessee, insinuating that the motion was made in order to prac- 
tice some sharp dodge or legerdemain, which would be detrimental 
to the objects of the convention. 

Gov. Pinchback said that the time had come in that convention 
when forbearance would be a crime. 

He was here interrupted by C. O. H. Thomas and others, when 
he remarked that Thomas had disturbed the proceedings of that 
meeting more than any twenty men in it, and he did not propose 
to yiehl to his interruptions. 

Several delegates arose to points and questions of order and in- 
formation, which rather rasped the Governor, who said, tartly, that 
one rule did not seem to prevail in that meeting, and that was the 
rule of gentlemanly courtesy. He had never raised a (juestiou of 
privilege. He had uniformly sat quietly until the gentleman speak- 
ing was through, and then arose decently and gentlemanly, and he 
demanded of the Conference the same courtesy. He did not under- 
stand what those things meant. He understood the gentleman from 
'J'ennessee (Mr. Thomas) was pregnant with a speech and was anx- 
ious to deliver it. The Governor said he was not there seeking 
])la''e, but was there to help to do sometliing for his poor down- 
irodilen people . It was necessary to be deliberate about it. (Jom- 
raittees were necessary in all deliberative bodies, and the Confer- 
ence should- go slow. It was the duty of the (•(uuniittec to ])ut this 
rejtort in such a form as 'lie ('onferencc would adopt, and he did 
not want to see the work hall' done. If thegontleman (Mr. Thomas) 
wanted the position on the committee in which the President had 



^ ■ NATIONAL aONFEKENCE. • 21 

seen fit to place him, (Governor Pincliback,) if he (Mr. Thomas) 
thought he could ftll it, he was willing he should have it; he would 
cheerfully yield to any wlio thought the responsibility was so light. 
A member should not impugn the motives of any other delegate. 
He had come there with none other than the best of motives. Was 
it not known that he had left the Constitutional Convention of 
Louisiana, of which he was a member, now in session in that State, 
to form the organic law of the Commonwealth ? Would he leave 
that responsible position and come here unless he thought he knew 
the importance of the meeting ? And dared he (Mr. Thomas) or 
any other honest man asperse his motives in the face of that fact? 
Would he (Mr. Thomas) look back a few days ago, when, called by 
the people to serve in the Constitutional Convention, he had re- 
signed the position of internal revenue ofRcer at eight dollars per 
day to be a member of the convention at four dollars. He had 
sacrificed his blood, sacrificed his purse, to serve his people, and 
shame upon the man who arose to asperse such a man simply to 
raise a howl in the galleries. [Cries of "Shame!" "Shame!" 
"Shame!"] He cared not for the cries of the galleries; he was 
there to perform his duty to his race. [Applause.] 

Governor Pinchback's motion was lost. 
. J. J. Bird, of Illinois, offered the following: 

Whereas we have listened with sorrow^ and regret to the remarks of the 
gentleman from Tennessee, Mr. Burrus, recounting tlie cruel and uncivil 
manner in which the Jubilee Singers have been recently treated by the 
employees of one of the railroad companies of this State; therefore 

Resolved^ That we the repi-esentatives of tlie colored people of the na- 
tion, in National Conference assembled, do hereby utterly denounce and 
condemn such acts as being indecent and inhuman in tlie extreme, and that 
the persons committing the same deserve the censure and condemnation 
of all good citizens, irrespective of sex, color or nationalitj'. 

A motion was made to adopt the resolution unanimously. 

The President said it would be so adopted if' no objection was 
made. 

Objection was made by W. A. Pledger, of Georgia. 

W. F. Yardley, of Tennessee, thought that no man would object 
to the adoption of such a resolution. 

Richard Allen, of Texas, arose, and, looking in all directions, 
asked who was the man who made the objection. " Who is he ?" 
he repeated over and over again. "I want him to stand up; I 
would like to see him." 

There was now a good deal of excitement. Pointing his index 
finger at Allen, Pledger said : " Here I stand ; I am the man, and 
as good a man as ever wore a pair of number sixes." He said he 
had objected under the idea that it was to be made to carry the 
former resolution introduced by Mr. Bird, to which he was opposed. 
He withdrew his objection, but not because of the menaces of the 
gentleman. 

Hon. J. H. Rapier, of Alabama, offered an amendment to ap- 



22 • PROCEEDINGS OF THE 

poiut a coraiuittee of three to secure legal counsel to bring suit in 
tlie Federal court against the railroad. 

Carried, and the resolution as amended was adopted. 

The (chairman appointed J. H. Burrus, W. F. Yardley, and Rev. 
G. W. Shafer, committee. 

The Conference then adjourned until 9 o'clock to-morrow morn- 
ing. 



THIRD DAY. 



The National Colored Conference reassembled at 9 o'clock, 
President J. R. Lynch in the chair. 

C. O. H. Thomas said he had remarked on the evening previous 
that he desired the following morning to answer pertinently the 
reflections cast upon him by Governor Pinchback, but as the Gov- 
ernor was not present he would postpone his remarks. 

The following resolutions were offered and referred : 

By B. A. J. Nixon : 

To the honorable and auyust body of Colored Men in Conference asumi- 
bled : 

We, the people of Giles county, Tennessee, send greeting to your hon- 
orable body, and earnestly ask that you, after having carefully considered 
tlie various subjects announced by the Executive Committee, to present 
to us and the colored people all over these United States some remedy for 
the untold injustices whicli our people have endured and are enduring. 
We of Giles county can very easily enumerate the evils under which we 
liave been laboring for more than a decade of years, but our best judg- 
ment and most extended research have been baffled when attempting to 
devise a remedy. It has been said, and wisely, we think, that in counsel 
there is nnich wisdom. Therefore, we ask your body to promulgate to 
the colored people of the United States some remedy for the innumerable 
injuries we are snftVring. 

Whereas the colored people of the Southern States are being stirred up 
on the subject of emigration; therefore 

Rcsolced, That a committee be appointed by this Conference, to be 
known as the National Emigration Committee, consisting of one gentle- 
man from each State, Avhose duty it sliall be to organize similar commit- 
tees in each of tlie Southern States. 

By J. Henri Burch, of Louisiana : 

Wliereas tht'va is now going on, and has been for some time past, an 
exodus of the colortnl peojile of ccnlain Southern States to the State of 
Kansas and other Northern States ; and 

Whereas, while said exodus has on tiie one side attracted the attention, 
synipatliies. and etiorts of all lovers of universal equalit}' before the hvAV, 
it has on tlie other given rise to various harsh criticisms on the part of 
those oi)posed to emigiation. who are using the silence of the Negro as 
a rai-e to deelare that it is i)Ut into operation solely for political purposes; 
that tlie \egro is hajijiy and contented in the Soutii, and that he has no 
real cause for einigratiiig, and otlier specious arguments calculated to 
place the emigrationists in a false position ; and 



NATIONAL OONFEllKNCE. 23 

Whereaf. tlic purpose of dealiu<,' willi tliis (question as colored men ami. 
from a national staiulpoint ; 

Resolved, That the C'onnnittce on Emij>Tation, when appointed, be re- 
quested to take luider eonsideralioji, and rcjiort back to this Convention, 
the following subjects pertaining- to said exo(his : 

1. What are the causes that have given rise to the exodus movement 
among the colored people? 

2. If there is anj^ truth in the report that the scheme was gotten up to 
u-ate the North against the Soutli? 

3. What are the remedies to be pursued to stop the movement? Would 
the colored people accept concessions if made to them ; and, if so, of 
what nature ? 

4. Are the colored people pursuing the wisest course of migration? 

5. How is this movement likelj^ to attect the two political parties in 
their respective States and nationallj^ ? 

G. Any other observations that may occur to the committee. 

By T. W. Lett : 

Whereas there is an unsettled state of affairs in the Southern States, 
resulting in the exodus of a large nnmber of colored people from that 
section of the country ; and 

Whereas tliis state of unrest is pervading the entire colored eonnnunity, 
creating almost uncontrollable anxiety on their part as to the final resnlt ; 
and" 

Whereas it is not the desire of the people, nor the sense of this Confer- 
ence that the migration of said people continue withont an adequate 
cause to the evident and irreparable loss to botli the colored and the 
white ; and 

Whereas it is expected that this Conference take into serious considera- 
tion this matter in all its various aspects ; be it therefore 

Resolved., That it is due to the colored race, especially to those of our 
suffering brethren of the South, that this body do give a dispassionate, 
searching, and positive expression as to the existing causes, whether po- 
litical or otherwise, with a view to the incitement of a more earnest en- 
deavor looking to their removal and immediate restoration to contidence 
and prosperity in said States, and that, should said causes be traced to 
the unjust discrimination toward the colored man on account of race, 
color, or previous condition of servitude as to the real, prosier, and un- 
mistakable source, that we, in the name of the oppressed i-ace of which 
this body is a part, deprecate in unmeasin-ed terms, as shocking to the 
higliest sensibilities of an enlightened civilization, such discrimination, 
being an luimerited return for the noble achievements of the Negro, the 
blessings of ■which the white race are the favored recipients. 

Resolved, That in the discussion of this momentous and all-absorbing 
question Ave indulge in no language which justly and impartially inter- 
preted VN'ill cast any reflection upon the white man or reflect discredit 
upon this body. 

By C. O. H. Thomas : 

Resolved, Tha,t this Conference of representative colered men of the 
United States of America are pledged by the sacred bond of kindred 
blood and of a common humanity, to devote their best eflbrts for the es- 
tablishment of civil and political rights ; 

Resolved, That the rights of the freedmen are inseparable from the 
condition of freedom. Therefore, being free and invested with that 
potent talisman of liberty, the ballot, which will enable us to maintain 
our rights, we here declare that we wish to possess and exercise, as pru- 
dent, law-abiding citizens, all the rights possessed in common by other 



24 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 

citizens of the United States. We furtliennore avow our earnest hope 
■tiiut tlu" iiobU- nioii and women of our coinitr}' who are seeking to lift up 
tlieir sisters to a iiij^lier pbuie of womanhood by giving them a larger 
scope in the activities and responsibilities of life by means of the ballot, 
may succeed in consununating their great purpose, for it would be a 
wretched conmientary upon our libertjMoving profession if we proved not 
our faith by our works in refusing to aid in the comi:)lete freedom and ex- 
ultation of women. 

Jicsiilved^ Tliat the right to labor and to receive wages commensurate 
with tlie lal)or performed are sacred principles underlying the i^rimal 
foundation of human societj'. It is, therefore, as much treason against 
Goil and humanity to close u]) an avenue of labor by Avliich people gain 
a living as to steal" the sweat of their brows by paying them wages inad- 
(•(|uute to the work performed. The party in power, if it would continue 
to be the slu^phertl of the people, must not waver from the steadfast ad- 
lierence to the principles which gave it its present glory. 

Resolved, That the vast body of the working men of this country, white 
or colored, recjuire a policy which sliall elevate labor, giving them higher 
wages and better homes in the South, and throw open to them the ave- 
nues of inilustry and emolument to race. 

Resolved, Tiiat we behold with feelings of deep moililication and re- 
gret the widespread demoralization of the almost utter advancement of 
earnest efforts for self-culture and intellectual development by our young 
men and women. We call upon our ministers and others to whose care 
is committed the moral and mental training of the young to strive with all 
theii- might to reclaim those who are walking down the broad road that 
leads to moral and phy.-ical death. 

Resolved, We also deplore the existence of a fact equally bad. Among 
our so-called leading men there is no general spirit of public enterprise 
nor of laudable ambition to place within the hands of their race the means 
of tlK'ii self-elevation; no building associations; no industrial avenues 
tlu-ough which a knowledge of the various mechanical arts can be ob- 
tained. The work-shops, the counting-rooms, clerkships in stores, and 
employment in the busj' commercial marts of our cities and towns are 
closed to us as a rule, and we have j'et to learn the sad lesson that the 
s])irit of caste and of prejudice will contipue to prevail just so long as we 
are i)Oor and needy. 

Resolved, Tliat on the subject of migration Ave will give it our special 
unbiased and unprejudiced consideration, and will so act as to redound 
to the good and benetit of all concerned — to both rulers and the ruled. 

By L. A. Roberts, of Grand Junction, Tenn. : 

Whereas there is at the present time a spirit of emigration existing 
among the colored people of the South, esi)ecially in the valley of the 
Mississippi, caused by oppression and otherwise, and non-protection in 
tlieir riglits as American citizens in the several Southern States, with no 
jirospcct existing of a change for the better; therefore 

Resolved, liy this, the National Convention of colored citizens : First, 
that it is expedient and wise for all who can to emigrate to some parts of 
(li(^ United States where they can enjoy all the riglits and immiuiities 
granted them under tlie Constitution an(l laws of theUniti'd States, with- 
out fear or molestation ; secoml, Miat in order to carry out tlie j)roject of 
(•migration systematically and advantageously, an emigration soeiet.y be 
organized, whose duty siiall be to assist those who desire to leave their 
h(»mes in the South in so doing, and to reach their destination in anj' of 
tlie N'ortliwestern States or Territories, to establish bureaus aiul agencies 
at one or more points on the Mississippi, Tennessee, Cumberland, Ohio 
and Missouri rivers, connected with the principal railroads leading West 



NATIONAL CONFERENCE. 25 

and Nortliwcst, to look aftor tlic wrlfaro and iulciTst of the cniiojrants at 
the several places of eiuharkiii'>j, and eliaiij;-e of ears and disembarking ; 
third, that as the boats on llie Mississippi river have refused to carry col- 
ored emigrants, steps be taken to charter one or more boats for tliat pur- 
pose, and if possible bring suit against those who liave refused; fourtli, 
this society shall be known as the '' North Anu'rican Colored Emigration 
Society," and shall in all respects be otHcered and managed as other so- 
cieties of the same character which are best adapted to tlie wants and in- 
terests of those whom it seeks to benetit. 

Referred to the Committee on Migration. 
By James D. Kennedy, of Louisiana: 

Fesolced, That the Committee on Permanent Organization be in- 
structed to inquire into the practicability of holding a conference every 
year, and report the result of labor at the earliest moment. 

Referred. 

By W. F. Yardley: 

Renolred^ That it is the sense of this Conference that colored jieople 
should migrate to those States and Territories where they can enjoy all 
the }-ights which are guaranteed by the laws and Constitution of the 
United States, and enforced by the Executive departments of such States 
and Territories, and we ask of Congress of the United States an ap- 
propriation of $500,000 to aid in the removal of our people from the 
South. 

T. W. Henderson, from Kansas, made a speech in which he 
stated that there was "smooth sailing" for the colored people in 
his State, and said he had come to the Conference at the suggestion 
of Gov. St. John, of Kansas. 

R. Allen, of Texas, moved to postpone further consideration of 
the subject until 3 p. m. Carried. 

By D. Jones, of Oregon : Resolution advising migration to the 
States and Territories of the far West. 

By Rev. John A. Clay: Resolution authorizing the appointment 
of an executive committeej with power to appoint auxiliary com- 
mittees. 

By J. H, Walker : Resolution authorizing the Conference to ap- 
point a conference committee of five from each State, to confer from 
time to time on the condition of the colored people, and if possible 
to render aid to the same. 

By G. W. Darden, of Kentucky: 

Whereas the colored people of the South are so cruelly treated in the 
South, being slain by rifle clubs and lyncli law; and 

Whereas in the South slaverj^ is not dead, but sleeping; and 

Whereas in the South election day is a day of terror with the colored 
man; and 

Whereas the Southern Negro is not as well treated as the Southern 
dog by the white man, who rightlj^ claims that this is a white man's Gov- 
ernment; and 

Whereas the colored man is not recognized here as human, but, as Tom 
Paine asserted, as a species of the monkey; and 

Whereas the ex-Confederate President seems to indorse Tom Paine 
by saying that the idea of educating the Negro is a piece of nonsense; 
thei'efore be it 



26 PROCKEDINGS OF THE 

Jicsolved. 'I'liat I lie coloird inuii of llie 8outh save his dollars and eents 
ill order to eiiii>^rate. 

Jiesvlvcd^ That we paj^ no heed to such iiieii as Fred. Douglass and his 
aeeoiiiplices, for (he simple reason that they are well-to-do Northern men 
\vlio will not travel out of tlx'ir way to benefit the sutfering Southern 
Neirro, and who eare not for the intei'ests of their race. 

By G. W. Gentry : Resolution to make the subject of migration 
paramount in the discussion immediately upon the report of the 
committee. 

Wm. R. Lawton,ofMissouri, in lieu of a resolution, wished to pre- 
sent an appeal from the colored citizens asking for aid for the des- 
titute emigrants in that State. 

Objection was made, and the paper was read as a resolution. 

By C. O. H. Thomas : Resolution expressing indignation at an 
order prohibiting colored citizens in New Orleans from holding 
tbeir meetings after 10 p. m. 

_^ By Rev. G. H. Shaffer : Resolution demanding the employment 
of colored teachers in colored schools. 

By W. F. Anderson: Resolution requesting the railroads to pass 
all delegates home free who paid full fare to the convention. 

By J. H. Kelley: Resolution urging the adoption of a system of 
emigration. 

By T. W. Lott : To appoint a committee of three on the colored 
press. 

By J. W. Grant: Asking Congress to appropriate an amount 
for 259 years for the assistance of those needing aid to emigrate to 
Kansas. 

B}' B. A. J. Nixon: That the Conference insiston the authorities 
iu impaneling juries to give the colored a portion of the jury, and 
especially when the prisoners at the bar are colored; that when 
candidates are electioneering they be asked whether they are willing 
to grant that right. 

By J. M. Smith, of Tennessee: 

Whereas there is great excitement among our race of people that is 
causing great sidVering: We thcrefon> ask of this Conference to use their 
best inlliience in j)acifying the minds of their countrynien. We ignore 
the practice tiiat is played upon the colored man in "this country. We 
therefore ask this iionorable Conference to give some aid, if possible, to 
tlieir countrynien. I'he real cause is the Vediictioii of wages and the 
.sliaiiiefiij manner in wliicli we are treated in traveling over the great 
tlioiDUglifarcs of the coiiiitry. We also clamor for our rights as free citi- 
zi-iis in the country, which iire denied lis. This excitement is causing 
an <'X()dns which is causing much snUering. They arc leaving the homes 
of tlieir childhood, trusting their fortune to an exp"rimeiit. ' It is an ex- 
lierimeut wliicli, if it fails, will ruin us forever. Wc tlierefore ask that 
tills matter h<- carefully considered and the minds of the p<'ople jiacified. 
Tlioiisands have left liicir liomi's penniless, no! knowing wiieii nor where 
it will end. We tlnTcfore demand all of our riglits as citizens, and. un- 
h'ss we do receive our just rights, we resohc ln\-migrate to the North or 
N'orthwest. We pledge ourselves to com/ together in all parts of the 
eouiitry as free citizens and demand our ilylils. We know the color line 
has beeu .struck, and unices it be witiidiaw n, wc will immediately seek 



NATIONAL CONFEKENCE. 27 

for our siifiVa^r, wliicli, if it cannot br oblaiiiiul here, we will remove from 
anion<>; them where we can enjoj- our free privileges. We therefore ask 
thii> honorable Conference to use their best influence in our behalf. 

Ref'ei-red. 

By Rev. Allan Allensworth : 

Whereas there is now an exodus of colored people from some of the 
Southern States; and 

Whereas there are certain parties tr\'ing to mould a public opinion In 
the North to the effect that said exodus is a political trick, originated by 
and is being carried out for the Republican part};-, and that the Republi- 
can party is responsible ior the suffering and losses occasioned b}' said 
exodus; therefore be it 

Resolved, That we enjoin the public that the assertion is not true, but 
that said dissatisfaction and exodus is caused bj^ the unrighteous, unla-w- 
ful, unpatriotic and uncivilized treatment we receive from oui-"best 
friends " in the South, who exact exorbitant prices and rents for lands ; 
who discriminate in free school facilities, who discriminate upon railroads, 
steamboats and at railroad stations and hotel accommodations, while at 
the same time thej^ charge the same fare ; who compel our ladies to ride 
in smoking-cars, among the roughest of travelers ; who deny us repre- 
sentation upon juries, and who fail to protect us in our contracts for labor, 
and who hold up to the world through their papers our ignorance, our 
supeistition, and our crude efforts to live, and at the same time disparage 
our leading educated men. It is, therefore, at the door of our best friends 
we lay the source of all these evils. 

Be it further resolved, That it is the belief of this conference that the 
Republican party is not responsible for the Freedman's Saving and Trust 
Company failure as a party. 

By Randall Browu, of Nashville : To appoint a committee of 
twenty-two to name a place for emigration ; that the Conference 
defray the expenses of this committee. 

By L. A. Roberts : To tax each member of the Conference $1 or 
more to aid emigration. 

Mr. J. D. Kennedy, of Louisiana, submitted the [following esti- 
mate of the value of the colored laborer in the South for 1877 and 
1878: Total value of cotton, sugar, molasses, rice and tobacco 
raised, $177,298,930 ; of manual and other labor, $158,000. 

By J. C. Napier: 

Whereas the civil and political rights of the Negro, from the Ohio river 
to the Gulf of Mexico, are abridged and curtailed in every conceivable 
manner, he being denied almost every privilege that is calculated to ele- 
vate him in his moral, intellectual and political status ; as compared A\'ith 
the public school privileges of the white man, his are a mere mockery ; in 
the courts, as compared to that justice which is meted out to A\'hite men, 
his is entirely farcical, he seldom or never enjoying that right which the 
Constitution of our country guarantees to every citizen, namely, the right 
to be tried bj' a jury of his peers ; and 

Whereas it appears there is no disposition on the part of a great majority 
of the Southern people to grant to the Negro those riglits which the word 
citizenship should carry with it, or to relinquish any of their old customs 
and prejudices ; therefore. 

Resolved, That it is the sense of this conference that the great current 
of migration which has, within tlie past few weeks, taken thousands of 
our people from our midst, and which is daily carrying hundreds from the 



28 PROCEKUINGS OF THE 

extreme .Southern States, should be eiicouraf?ed ami kept in motion until 
tho>e wlio an; left are a\\:Uil«Ml every right and privilege to which the 
Constitution and laws of our country entitle us; or, until we are all in a 
land where our rights are in no respect questioned. 

By B. F. Williams : Setting apart June 19 as a national holi- 
day for the colored people as the anniversary of the emancipation 
of tlie race. 

The introducer was called on to " explain" this resolution. He 
said the people of Texas were in the last stage of creation, and 
tliat the colored people were freed on that day. It was not free- 
dom until all were free, and therefore he had selected that day as 
the anniversary. 

Kev. G. H. Shaffer moved to amend by iyserting the "22d of Sep- 
tember," instead of "June lit." 

W. H. Council moved to amend by inserting "January 1," as a 
more suitable day. 

J. W. Cromwell moved to fix upon the 30th of March, when the 
fifteenth amendment was passed. 

The vice-president thought January 1 the best day. 

A member in the rear said they were not free yet. They were 
still killed in the South. 

Ml. Williams. Yes, and they kill them in the North as well as 
in the South. [Laughter.] 

Colonel Robert Harlan moved to lay the subject on the table. 

A motion to adjourn prevailed and a recess was taken until 
2 p. m. 

AFTERNOON SESSION. 

The Conference resumed its deliberations at 2 p. m., and the 
business pending at the moment of adjournment, the resolution of 
B. F. Williams, setting aside the lOtli of June as a national holi- 
day for the colored people, was taken up. 

The motion of Colonel Robert Harlan to table the resolution was 
rejected. 

The amendment substituting January 1 was lost by a unanimous 
vote. 

A vote was then taken on the amendment making the date <if 
the holiday September 22, and it was rejected. 

The original resolution was then adopted without amendment. 

A motion to reconsider was tal)led. 

Tiie folh)wing resolutions were offered and referred: 

By P. J. Crenshaw : 

Whc-reas we, the colored people of the several Sdiitlieni States, meet 
with many disadvantages by the misuuder.staiiding of each other; there- 
fore be it 

h'r.so/rc'l, That this ( 'onfcrciu'c reconniiciiil llir organi/.ation of pilnt- 
iug press companies in each Southern Stale i:ii ll'ieir bettor understand- 
ing. 

The following resolutions were offered and referred : 



NATIONAL CONFERENCE. 29 

By Ferdinand L. Barnett, of Illinois : 

Whereas we believe the American custom of spelHng the word "Negro" 
without a capital, is an oiitgrowtli of prejudice towards that race ; 

Resolved, Tliat we call the attention of the press to the same, with the 
hope that the wrong will be remedied. 

By David Wilson, of Huntsville: 

Resolved, That this convention appoint a committee of one from each 
State a delegation to memorialize Congress and the Executive of the 
United States to locate in the West the "new Canaan" of the hope to the 
colored American, and from wliich he can found a State on Republican 
principles, to be governed by them, from governor down to the humblest 
officer, without fear or intimidation, being settlers and owning of the 
soil. 

By Judge M. "VV. Gibbs : Resolution advising colored men to be- 
come land owners. 

It was adopted by the Committee on Education, and will be 
found at the close of that report. 

The author of the resolution made a short address, saying that 
the greatest drawback to the Negro, whether he lived North or 
South, was his poverty. He advised greater economy and the ac- 
cumulation of wealth as one of the greatest levers of advancement 
and power. The colored men were going out of the South and 
Germans and Northern and Northwestern people were coming 
into it. 

By H. W. Ward, of Arkansas: 

Resolved, That a board of commissioners be appointed from the various 
States to select States and Territories wiiereto the colored people of the 
South may migrate. 

By M. G. Turner : 

Resolved, That the delegates from the different States elect one com- 
missioner on migration from tlie delegation now in the National Confer- 
ence, to whicli all questions of migration may be i-eferred. 

By George N. Perkins, of Arkansas ; 

Resolution 1. Favoring wholesale emigration on account of oppression 
and intimidation. 

2. That from each State one or more emigration commissioners be ap- 
pointed to select homes for the oppressed. 

3. Providing for the appointment of auxiliary emigration commission- 
ers. 

4. Indorsing Senator Windom's resolution. ' 

5. Proclaiming that the Negro is not naturally inferior to the white 
man, and is capable of self-government. 

6. To memorialize Congress for a redress of grievances. 

Ex-Congressman Rainey called attention to the fact that some 
necessary expenses had been incurred. He- desired a collection to 
meet these expenses. 

J. W. Cromwell then read the report from the Committee on 
Education. [See Appendix E.] 

John D. Lewis, of Pennsylvania, read the report of the Commit- 



30 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 

tee on Permanent Organization, presenting a constitution and by- 
laws for a proposed organization, to be known as " The American 
Protective Society, to Prevent Injustice to the Colored People," 
[See Appendix F.] 

J. T. Jenifer, of Kansas, offered a series of resolutions, conclud- 
ing as follov.'s : 

That the school-book, tlie Bible and the ballot, the three great levers 
of Anicricaii eivilizatioti, will, with industry and discretion, do for us 
wliat they have done for otliers; iicnce we shall be left to work out our 
own ik'sfiny in contact with our wiiite brother in tiie land of our birth. 

Judging from tlie progress made by the colored people, by the blessing 
of (rod, (luring tlie past fourteen years, the national tendency to peace 
and mntuul understanding which is daily being brouglit about between 
the two races in America, we may sanguinely look for a proper adjust- 
ment of all our present difficulties. 

That, meanwhile, we call upon the better classes of citizens of the South 
to bury their prejudices against us, if they have any. Let us come to- 
gether as friends, and we demand their protection; because we are all in the 
same ship and must sink or swim together. Hence we call upon the press 
of the country, the framers of public opinion and educators of the popu- 
lar mind, to cease their Negro hate and abusive misrepresentations of the 
colored race, and help to bring about this era of good feeling and peace- 
able adjustment which is so much desired by every good citizen of the 
I'nited States. 

The firm maintenance of these preambles we call upon all colored 
citizens to pledge tlieir most earnest endeavors to propagate and main- 
tain. 

J. P. Jones, of Arkansas, offered the following, which were 
adopted : 

Wiiereas we learn from well-founded rumor that Hon. Benjamin F. 
Butler has tendered and donated 20,000 acres of land in Wisconsin, and 
lion. Zaeii Cliandler ottered homes to one hundred families of color 
who are fleeing from their hom(>s in various sections of tlie South; there- 
fore 

Resolved, Tiiat we extend to tlie honorable gentlemen our grateful 
tiianks in tiie name of sulleringiuimanitj' for tiieir manifestation in recog- 
nizing tli(! claims of a people whose condition appeals so strongly to the 
syiiipatiiy of the ciiaritable. 

Resolved, Tiiat a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to tlie honor- 
able gentlemen herein inilicated. 

The resolution of W. F. Yardley, introduced at the morning 
session, was then taken up. 

James D. Kennedy, of Louisiana, moved to suspend the rules 
and proceed to the resolution memorializing Congress for the ap- 
propriation of 8-350,000 to aid the suffering freedmen in the West. 
The motion was carried. He offered an amendment that the Vice- 
]*re.sident be recpiested to lay the same before the Senate for such 
action as they might deem necessary. 

Colonel Robert Harlan said : 

Mr. i'lcsid'ut, as to the present migration movement of the colored 
|ifnp|.-, let ii l)c understood lliat we have tlie lawful rigiit to stay or to go 
wlitTrver we please. 'I'lic soutlierii country is ours. Our aiieestors set- 



NATIONAL CONfERKNCE. 



ai 



tied it, and from the wilderness formed tlie cultivated plantation, and 
they and we have cleared, improved, and beantihed the land. 

Whatever tliere is of wealtli, of plenty, of greatness, and of ylory in 
the Soutli, tlie colored man lias been, and is, the most important factor. 
The sweat of liis brow, liis laborer's toil, his patient endurance under the 
heat of the semi-tropical sun and tlie chilling blasts of winter, never de- 
terred the laborer from his work. 

The blood of the colored man has fertilized the land and has cemented 
the Union. Aware of these facts, we sliould be baser than the willing 
slaves did we consent to the dictation of any men or body of inen as to 
where we may go, when we shall go, or how long we shall stay. 

The Kepubiic owes to every citizen protection for Jiishome and security 
forjiis rights. Let this security be given, and until that be done, let us 
cry' aloud against those who refuse it, whether in the Nortli or in the 
South. Let us remember all such in our prayers to the God of Liberty 
and of Justice, that He may punish them as they deserve. Let us remem- 
ber them at the ballot-box, and fail not to inflict the retribution which 
they so justly deserve, and if we be obstructed in casting our votes, we 
can go where there will be uo hindrance, and where we can vote as we 
please. 

He who submits in silence to an injury may be avenged by a righteous 
heaven, but lias little hope from man. Let us, therefore, keep the wrongs 
under which we labor before the public until an awakened sense of right 
and justice on both sides of Mason and Dixon's line shall work out a 
remedy. They need not tell us tliat there is no way to right our wrongs. 
The trouble isnot in the want of a way; it is the want of a will. Let us 
exert the will and the way will be found. But this may take time, and 
while time runs many of us may perish. If the Government should fail 
to give protection to our people, it can do no less than aid those who wish 
to change their habitations to safer and better homes. 

With these views before us, and believing in an all-wise Providence, we 
would be recreant to our principles, to our creed, to our race, and to our 
God should we neglect to use all the means in our power to bring about 
the desired results. 

Such a measure would have a double effect; it would arouse the atten- 
tion and self-interest of the Xortli tliat the laws should be sternly en- 
forced that regulate the purity of the ballot and security for the persons 
of the colored race, and it would strongly appeal to the interest and hu- 
manity of the Southern people to see that they should not lose an indus- 
trious and worthy population by reason of lawlessness and inhumanity. 
Let us, therefore, insist on some such measure as an alternative riglit. 

Let us demand that the principles we assert be declared essential, in 
resolutions of legislatures and conventions, and made a part of our party 
platform. 

Let us agitate, even as other classes agitate when their rights and wishes 
are disregarded. 

We are Americans, and let us act as Americans have ever done when 
denied their rights. Cry aloud and spare not until our injuries are known 
and our wrongs are redressed and our demands are granted. 

Let us frame an address and make an appeal to Congress for relief. 
Althougli the Democrats are in a majority, no matter. Some Democrats 
have a sense of justice, and others assume the virtue if they have it not ; let 
us put them to the test. Let our motto be " Protection to our homes or 
homes elsewhere," and until the Government can be brought to aid mi- 
gration, let private kindliness and enterprise be brouglit into action. Let 
us appeal to the people of the North, to corporations and to (•onniion car- 
riers for aid, so tliat all who are oppressed in the land of their birtii may 
tind freedom in the laud of thcii- adoption. If the leading men of the 



32 PROCEEDINGS OP THE 

South will make another Egypt of these bright and sunny valley?, th^ri 
must the oppressed go fortli into the promised land of liberty, into the 
AVestern States and Territories, where the people are at peace and the 
soil is free, and where every man can secure a iiome for himself and fam- 
ily with none to molest him or make him afraid. 

Already many have seen the beacon light of hope and are making their 
way toward it. and if the oppression is continued more and more will 
burst their cliains and take tiie I'oacl to liberty. 

There are some signs of ol)jection to this on the part of the land-own- 
ers. They want the colored man to stay and till the soil. Very well ; 
then let them treat him justly and fairly and protect him from criminal 
lawlessness. If they cannot or will not do this, they have no moreriglit 
to ask him to stay, as they have no legal right to forbid him to go, and 
any attempt to restrain this inovement will be vain and futile. 

it is not a llight of fugitive slaves, but a voluntary movement of free- 
men, seeking liberty and security. It is the exercise of the right of any 
American to better his condition by going from one part of the countiy 
to anotiier, just as interest or fancy may lead him. If we cannot do this, 
we are not free, no more than are the serfs of Russia, who, until lately, 
were a part of the estate and sold as such, but, if ice are to be re-enslaved 
we may as well die on the road to liberty as at the feet of tyrants. We 
may as well expire contending for liberty, aye, and far better, than in 
base submission to degrading slavery. 

At present there seems to be no alternative. 

The reaction has robbed Southern Republicans, both white and colored, 
of their votes and of their voices, and this has thrown the nation into the 
hands of our opponents, who are determined to strip us of the last meas- 
ure of protection. 

Our i)olitical rights in these States are wholly suspended or abrogated. 
We have nothing but the mockery- of legal proceedings, and Attorney- 
General Devens, the constitutional adviser of the President, informs us 
that there is no prospect of justice from Southern tribunals for the col- 
ored man. Possibly he did not intend to convey that impression, but if 
not, what does he mean ^ You may study his long and cai-efnlly pre- 
pared paragraphs without coming to any other conclusion tlian this, that 
at present there is no hope for justice to the colored man from Southei-n 
courts. 

If, then, all stay, all must submit. If some go they will be free, and 
possibly, by their going, they will awake the ruling minds of the South 
to a sense of the necessity of what is right. 

For tliese reasons, therefore, I am an advocate for migration as the only 
present practicable I'cmedy for our wrongs, and I am for the exercise of 
that remedy in a large measure and at all hazards. 

H. V. Robinson, of Arkansas, said he came here from the con- 
vention at Vicksburg. What they did at Vicksburg would have a 
trauquilizing influence. But what good have you done here to- 
day? While you may have done some good, you have done a 
great deal of harm. One says that the colored people are s.?lf-sup- 
j)orting, and can go when and where they please. Another says, 
they are able to take care of and protect themselves. The next 
tiling is a resolution asking Congress to donate $500,000 for the 
purpose of sending people to Kansas from this country. When the 
time comes that we cannot live in this country I am as much in 
favor of going to Kansas as anybody else. But let us be men ; let 
us be like white men and see the impossibility of taking 4,000,000 



• NATIONAL CONFERENCE. 33 

of people away and setting them suddenly down in a strange coun- 
try. 

A young delegate. Who paid you to come here ? 

Mr. Robinson. I suppose the young man is just out of school, 
and don't suppose he ever hoed cotton in his life. [Applause.] 

The President. The gentleman's time has expired. 

Hon. J. H. Rainey rose to a point of order, saying: 

There is so much noise in this hall that we cannot hear what is being 
said. I want to add, that I think we ought to permit a difference of 
opinion to be expi'essed on so important and vital a question, in whicli 
we ai-e so deeply interested. Any cause that cannot be discussed in both 
phases is no cause worthy of deliberation. I favor migration, but I want 
to proceed intelligently. • 

When the President had, by continued efforts, finally secured 
order, a delegate said, " I ask fair play for the gentleman." 
Mr. Robinson : 

Fair play need not be asked for me ; I will see that I have fair play. 
How can j^ou expect white men to be tolerant to you when you show 
that you have no tolerance for each other? If you are riglit your views 
will bear the light, and if wrong they will not ; if wrong they will not 
stand the test arguQient. I never went to school in my life. There are 
graduates of universities who ought to be able to respond to me, provided 
thej' have the facts on tlieir side. I say that this resolution is calculated 
to deceive every ignoi'ant man in Mississippi. You memorialize Congress 
to give $500,000 to assist the freednien who have gone or can go to Kansas. 
You ask of men whom you have been all day abusing to extend charity 
to you, and you humble and debase yourselves in doing it. VVlieu you 
talk about poor starving black people, I am with them all the time. 
With what he earns, gets by law, begs or steals, he gets plenty ; and 1 
don't say this with any disrespect to colored men. The country is full 
of this cry of starvation. I have got five hundred acres in Mississippi ; I 
mingle with them all the time, and they don't starve. 

A delegate. Well, why do they want to migrate? 

Mr. Robinson. Because it is on account of the oppression of the 
white people, but I am opposed to encouraging wholesale migra- 
tion, and having the poor colored man strewn along the banks of 
the Mississippi, there to die. 

Further remarks were made by W. H. Council, of Alabama ; 
D. Wilson and J. Gillem, Arkansas. 

John D. Lewis, of Philadelphia, moved the previous question ; 
which was carried, and the resolution was then adopted. 

H. V. Cashin, of Alabama, moved that the rules be suspended in 
order to allow Mrs. Dr. Wylie, of Philadelphia, to read the paper 
of Rev. Dr. B. T. Tanner, on the " Theory and Practice of American 
Christianity." [See Appendix G.] This motion prevailed, and 
the paper was accordingly read. A vote of thanks was tendered 
the author of the paper-and also the reader. 

The Conference then adjourned until 8 p. m. 

3 



84 PROCEEDINGS OP THE 

NIGHT SESSION. 

At 8.20 p. m. the Conference was called to order by the Chair- 
man. There was a good attendance on the part of delegates, about 
three-fourths of them being present, and a good attendance in the 
galleries. 

A resolution not to have papers prepax'ed by absent parties read 
was taken from the table and adopted. 

C. O. H. Thomas arose to a question of privilege, and began to 
impeach the motives of ex-Governor Pinchback, but was ruled out 
of order. 

J. H. Rainey moved that a collection be taken up to defray nec- 
essary expenses. Adopted. The total amount collected was $105.50. 

A resolution providing for the printing of the minutes of the 
Conference was introduced and action deferred. 

The Conference at 10.25 p. m. adjourned until to-morrow morning, 
at 9 o'clock. 



FOURTH DAY. 

The National Colored Conference reassembjed at 9 o'clock, Pres- 
ident Lynch in the chair. 

Prayer by Rev. T. W. Henderson, of Kansas. 

T. Richardson, of Mississippi, offered the following resolutions : 

Recognizing the fact that the South is the natural home of the colored 
man, being adapted to the climate and familiar with the mode of produc- 
ing that staple that forms a source of profit to tlie wliole country, and 
with the assurance of his civil liberty and political rights, may in the future 
become a source of great profit to himself — 

Resolved, That the question of the removal of our people from tliese 
districts or sections when their civil and political riglits are abridged or 
ignored, be given that careful consideration and due deliberation that its 
impoi tance demands. 

Resolved, That tliis Conference encourage the removal of our people 
from those sections of tiie South alone wiiere race, prejudice, or other 
consideration, render it apparently impossible for the two elements to 
live together in peace and liarmony 

The resolutions were not entertained. 

J. W. Cromwell, of Virginia, read a paper on the " Necessity of 
Industrial and Technical Education." [See Appendix H.] 

.]. T. Jenifer, of Arkansas, moved that a vote of thanks be ten- 
dered the author of the paper. 

Curried. 

F. L. Barnett, of Illinois, read a paper on " Race Unity," and 
on motion of J. P. Jones, of Arkansas, a vote of thauks was ten- 
dered the author. [See Appendix I.] 

Theodore H. Green, of Mississi})pi, read a paper on the " Elements 
oi' Prosperity,'* and received the thanks of the Conference. [See 
Appendix J.] 



NATIONAL CONFERENCE. 35 

John J. Bird, of Illinois, said that he rose to a question of priv- 
ilege. He desired to commend the reports which had been given 
in the American, but in that paper of that morning had appeared 
an editorial stating that " Jolin J. Bird, of Illinois, rose up in the 
Conference, Thursday, to denounce by resolution, from the lofty 
standpoint of a man who knows nothing of the subject, the resolu- 
tions of the Vicksburg convention. Illinois is not, perhaps, the 
place where a man would be most likely to acquire information 
concerning affairs of the South, except strained through the patent 
back-action filter of John A. Logan, which reverses the principle 
of the filter and soils that' which runs through it. The resolution 
of Bird is a substantial reiteration of Logan's cheap political clap- 
trap," &c. Mr. Bird said that, upon reading the editorial through 
to the close, the very admission of the editor was sufficient justifi- 
cation of the resolutions introduced by him. He did not get his 
information from Logan, but from the following editorial of the 
New Orleans Times of April 22 : 

Again, let us be perfectly frank. As we have said, the Negroes are 
Ic-aving the State because there exists among tliem a sense of insecurity— 
an apprelieusion that their civil and political riglits are in danger — a be- 
lief that they cannot have justice. The truth compels us to admit 
tiiat these apprehensions are not altogether unreasonable; that they are 
tli(> natural results of the conduct of a class of irresponsible young men- 
young politicians they think themselves — who have no interest in peace 
and order, since tliey have no ambition but to get office. That tlie acts of 
tliese people have !)een exaggerated by politicians of the other side; that 
Kadical politicians, white and black, have been guilty of equal, if not 
greater, ofl'enses, is all true. But the fact remains that the threatened 
emigration of the Negroes is to be traced to the conduct of this class, who 
seem to emulate the name of bull-dozers. 

James D. Kennedy, of Louisiana, made a personal explanation 
in reference to the resolution offered by C. O. H. Thomas, of Ten- 
nessee, expressing indignation at an order prohibiting colored citi- 
zens of New Orleans from holding church service after the hour of 
10 p. m. He stated that the order issued by the chief of police 
had been subsequently modified so as to apply to white and black 
churches alike, and that officers of the peace could not make arrests 
without the necessary information filed according to law. He made 
this explanation in justice to the municipal officers in New Orleans 
•and the very general desire on the part of members of the < onfer- 
ence to know the facts of the case. 

C. O. H. Thomas, of Tennessee, said the order was made to 
prevent the colored people from holding emigration meetings. 

J. P. Jones, of Arkansas, offered the following resolution : 

Resolved, That tlie several State organizations as perfected under the 
Committee on Permanent Organization be, and they are hereby, empow- 
ered to draft addresses in their several States, appealing to all boards of 
trade, cotton exchanges, and mercantile influences thereof to lend their 
aid in restoring tliat equity in prineiijles that regulate tlie laws of supply 
and demand, to the end that tlie pledges made at the last session holden 



36 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



I 



S 



J' 



il 



li 



at Vicksbnrg by tlie represenfative heads of these several anus of hidu 
to the Negroes of the country may meet a happy fruition. 

J. W. Cromwell said that the resolution did not go far enovi 
An appeal to the boards of trade would be ineffectual. The 
ored people planted too much cotton. They should raise their 
meat. 

The author of the resolution said he was willing to insert 
amendment including an appeal to the planting interests. 7 
amendment was agreed to and the resolution adopted. 

Several delegates rose to a question of privilege, but the Chi 
man stated that they could proceed only by unanimous cons; 
Objection was made. 

Ex-Go vei'nor P. B. S. Pinchback, of Louisiana, chairman of 
Committee on Address, presented a report, which was read 
Rev. Allan Allensworth. [See Appendix K.] 

After the reading of the report the Conference took a recess u 
2 p. m. 

AFTERNOON SESSION. 

Samuel Lowery rose to a question of privilege, and read an 
torial published in the American of Thursday, with reference tc 
meanderiugs North, while gleaning facts on silk culture. He ; 
he went North with letters from men of eminence, of both co 
and both parties, and the mission was indorsed by all. He \ 
there, not to get money, but to see the machinery used in silk n 
ufacture. He made some money preaching, but that was his c 
He would inform the editor of the American, that generous fri 
of his, who knew so much about the feelings of his race, that if 
editor proposed to become the agent of the colored race and I 
Conference, he would give him a full account of his trip td"' 
North. 

At the suggestion of ex-Governor Pinchback, the report of 
Committee on Address was read a second time. He said it wa; 
far the most important paper to be presented to the convent 
since it was the address wliich was to go forth to the people oft 
United States as the voice of the convention on all topics. It 
far more important than the report on migration, for the Is 
was ouly an expression on one subject. 

Several delegates arose with points of order. 

G(jvernor Pinchback asked, energetically, if he could not sf 
M'iiliout interruption. He said that the paper was not exactly v 
he wanted it to be. He supposed that each member would o 
prepared to furnish statistics of all the crimes committed in 
South during tlie past five or six years. It was at first intende 
make tlie convention a Southern one, but Northern delegates 1 
invited. 

Here G. W. Gentry arnso excitedly and exclaimed several ti 
"}Ar. Speaker!" but Gov. l^inchback did not yiehl the floor, 



\ 






1 



NATIONAL CONFERENCE. 37 

e Conference endeavored to shout Gentry down, but he would not 
u^wu. 

The Chairman. Take your seat. The gentleman need not yield 

iless he desires. 

Governor Piuchback. I will vield. 

G. W. Gentry, (addressing the Chair.j You are compelled to 

ar a delegate when he rises to a question. 

[Governor Pinchback's remark will be found in Appendix L.] 

At the conclusion of Governor Pinchback's speech G. W. Gentry 

id: "Since the gentleman made special remarks towards me and 

minted towards me, I would like [Laughter and applause.] 

"Here Gov. Pinchback remarked that he understood Gov. Marks 

IS without the bar, and moved that he be invited to take a seat 

I the platform. 

The motion prevailed, and President Lynch appointed Governor 

inchback and Richard Allen to escort Governor Marks to the 

and. 

Secretary Cromwell also moved that the same courtesy be ex- 

"iided to Comptroller Gaines. 

Mr. Gentry, of Kentucky, continued; I have always told the 
jung men of my State that Pinchback was considerable of a man, 

aughter and applause,] but I.have Qot found him wielding that 
i,me influence in Louisiana and Mississippi that I expected. 

J., p. Jones, of Arkansas, rose to a point of order, saying that 

ey were not discussing Pinchback but the address. 

I The President. The gentleman from Louisiana did not person- 

ly allude to any one. 

Mr. Gentry. Yes, he-pointed at one. [Uproarious laughter and 
jplause.] 

The President. If you do no more than point at him, you will be 

equal honor. [Laughter.] 

Mr. Gentry. Where is the gentleman ? [Loud laughter and im- 
lense applause.] 

Colonel Lewis, of Louisiana. If you will maintain the same status 
ith the people of Kentucky that Governor Pinchback does in 
Louisiana, they will honor you. [Great applause.] 

Mr. Gentry. I will state 

Colonel Lewis. Will the gentleman yield for a question ? 

Mr. Gentry. No, sir ; not from Louisiana. [Laughter.] 

Mr. Gentry. In 1876, Pinchback made a speech before ten thou- 
and Democrats 

There were loud cries of " Time!" " Time !" and Mr. Gentry re- 
actantly subsided. 

Ex-Congressman Rainey was then called for, and several dele- 
ates requested that he take the Speaker's stand. 

Mr. Ptainey. 0, I prefer to be among the ])lebeians. [Laughter.] 

Colonel James Lewis. Several of the ladies wish to look at you. 

The Chairman. O, he is a married man. [Laughter.] 



38 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 

Mr. Rainey commenced by saying that he hoped the Conference 
would not be disappointed in what he would say. We may never 
hold another conference. The same faces will never be mirrored 
against these walls. It behooves us, then, to do what we can with 
a purpose ; that we send down to history our action, and, when it 
is read by the world, that we may not be ashamed of our action. 
We are a proscribed people, not because we crucified a Saviour, ■ 
but because we have a different colored skin from others of this 
country. We have stood a great deal. We never rose and struck 
for freedom, as in San Domingo. The white people boasted or this, 
but it is well that we did not. Would they have had us strike down 
defenseless people, defenseless women and children ? We showed 
our nobleness by not taking advantage of the situation. We want 
to say to the white people the time has come for us to give warning 
that we have stood all we can, and in more than one way we will 
show this soon. We have been enriching the white man, and the 
time has come when forbearance has ceased to be a virtue. We 
have come to that point when we doubt the protestations of those 
who say they are our best friends. Those in this Conference are 
here for a purpose. It is to be hoped that the proceedings will be 
read everywhere. It is to be deprecated that there was a necessity 
for emigration. We have stood too much now, and I would not 
blame any colored man who would advise his people to flee from 
the oppressors to the land of freedom. Pledges were made at Vicks- 
burg. They have been made before, and they have always been 
broken. 

A Voice. Yes, and they will always be broken. 

The speaker then read a letter from a young friend in South 
Carolina, giving a melancholy view of the condition of the Negroes 
in the " Sunny Southland. He concluded by saying : " The people 
of South Carolina are with you in this movement, and we b<'-t 
await the time when we can join in a general emigration to a land 
of freedom." 

J. J. Bird, of Illinois, made a lengthy speech similar in sub- 
stance to the one made during the morning session. He devoted 
his remarks to a denial of any political significance in the resolu- 
tions introduced by the Northern delegates. While he was speak- 
ing Governor Marks entered the hall and was escorted to a seat 
near the reporters' table by Governor Pinchback. 

G. S. W. Lewis, (addressing J. J. Bird.) Is this protracted dis- 
cussion on this report designed to prevent the report on emigration 
from being presented ? 

J. J. Bird. It is not my purpose. 

W. F. Yardleysaid the proscription placed on the Negro should 

be removed. If there were places in the South whei-e he could not 

vote his sentiments, that was a reason for migration. The shops 

* were closed against him, clerkships could not be obtained, there 

was no opening for him. If he was a favorite he might get a place 



NATIONAL CONFERENCE, 39 

as street-scavenger, or in a hotel to polish bones. [Laughter,] He 
did not believe in the popular delusion of forty acres and a mule. 
He knew that inany new country hard work would be necessary, but 
they would be free. It was not so bad in Tennessee as it was in 
other States, but there was oppression here. He wanted his chil- 
dren to stand higher than he did, to be skilled mechanics or pro- 
fiessional men, but where was the opening in Tennessee ? [A Voice. 
"Ain't got none," and laughter.] B ut they must learn to respect each 
other. He then moved the previous question, when a tremendous 
confusion ensued, and a general demand forced the withdrawal of 
the motion. 

Richard Allen, of Texas, rose, but yielded to ex-Congressman J. 
T. Rapier, of Alabama, who moved the previous question on the 
adoption of the report. 

After a good deal of random disputing the motion for the pre- 
vious question was carried. 

J. D. Kennedy, of Louisiana, said that migration was not caused 
by low Avages or the high price of land. If the people could be al- 
lowed to remain unmolested there would be no cry of migration to 
Kansas. There were many millions of acres uncultivated land in 
the South. He had hoped great things from the Vicksburg Con- 
ference, but it had adopted only a series of glittering generalities — 
the same old story. He did not believe that going to Kansas would 
better the colored race. He did not believe in any hasty exodus. He 
believed in migration, but he did not believe they should go with- 
out means to pay their passage and to buy homes. But to those 
who had gone, he would say, nevei; return. Better perish in Kan- 
sas than come back, for a return would make things ten times 
worse than it was before. He did not think this was the last Con- 
ference. They could find the money to come. It was this uneasi- 
ness among the Negroes that would make the white men of the 
South know that something was the matter. 

The only fault in the report was the gingerly use of words where 
the General Government was concerned. 

He thought the thanks of the Conference were due to the people 
of Nashville for their courteous treatment of the delegates. They 
had been uniformly kind. They should also thank the Anwricau 
for its able and correct reports of the proceedings. 

W. H. Bentley, of Georgia, did not think the report full enough. 

J. W. James, of Indiana, said that he once thought that ex-Gov- 
ernor Piuchback had deserted the Negro, but he was glad to. find 
that he was mistaken. He indorsed every word that Pinchback 
had said. He denounced the statement in the American that the 
Northern Negroes came to encourage migration. He had left Ten- 
nessee for the far West because he could not get his rights. He 
was for migration unless the Negro could get his rights where he 
was. 

Rev. Allan, Aliens worth, of Kentucky, said he wanted to call at- 



40 - PROCEEDINGS OF THE 

tention to an editorial iu the American, but was interrupted by a 
delegate, who insisted that the gentleman confine himself to the 
question. 

The report was then adopted. 

J. T. Rapier, of Alabama, said that the Committee on Migration 
had had hundreds of resolutions referred to it, and had done the 
best they could. He moved an adjournment until 8 o'clock, at 
which time they would take up the report on migration, and take 
the vote after three hours' discussion, and call the previous ques- 
tion. 

This was carried, and the Conference adjourned to 8 p. m. 

EVENING SESSION. 

On the reassembling of the Conference at 8 p. m., a report was 
submitted by the Committee on Press, appealing to the colored peo- 
ple to support the papers published by men of their own race. [See 
Appendix M.] 

The report was adopted. 

A resolution indorsing the action of Judge Rives, of Virginia, 
in bringing the State judges of that State to a strict accoujit for 
their violation of the United States laws, in refusing to allow col- 
ored men to serve as jurors when their rights as citizens are at stake, 
was adopted. 

The following report was presented and adopted : 

Your Committee, to -whom was refei-red the Jubilee Singers' civil rights 
case, have been as diligent and thorough in their endeavors to get at the 
true status of the case as the limited time allowed them would permit, and 
they beg- leave to report as follows : ^ 

There have been one criminal and six civil suits brought in the Federal 
court. » 

There has never been any test made of the civil rights bill, and, to pros- 
ecute the suit in question it will require at least $500. 

Your committee are of the opinion there never wUl occur a better op- 
portunity to test the eflectiveness of the civil rights bill, and therefore 
recommend that this Conference prosecute this <'ase to a successful ter- 
mination. To this end they recommend that a prosecuting committee of 
three be appointed to look after the case, receive all moneys raised for 
the purpose above expressed, pay out the same for expenses incurred in 
tiie prosecution, and turn over all surplus that maj'^ occur to the Kansas 
Emigration Aid Society; that at leasjt two of said committee shall be resi- 
dents of Nashville; that «teps be inunediately taken to raise $500, with 
which to prosecute the suits as vigorously as ])ossil)le; that each State and 
disti'ict here represented shall contribute $28 towards this cause, except 
Oregon, which State shall contribute the remaining $24; that the chair- 
man of the Conference api)oint some one from each State here repre- 
sented, whose duty it shall be to raise the amount apportioned to his 
State, and forward the same to the chairman of the prosecuting commit- 
tee; that it shall he the duty of the prosecuting committee to furnish at 
least foiM- colored journalsa fnll reportof all moneys received and disbursed 
by them during the i)rosecution of said suits, when the same shall have 
been terminated. J. II. BuRRUS, Nashville, Tennessee, 

Rev. G. II. Shaffer, Nashville, Tennessee, 
W. F. Yardley, Knoxville, Tennessee, 

Conunittee. 



NATIONAL, CONFERENCE. 41 

The Committee on Civil Rights was appointed the Prosecuting 
Committee, and the Collecting Committee, appointed under the re- 
port, are as follows : 

J. C. Napier, Nashville, Tenn.; R. W. Fitzhugli, Natchez, Miss.; Rev. 
Bishop Miles, Louisville, Ky.; Col. James LeAvis, New Orleans, La.; J. 
W. Wilson, St. Louis, Mo.; Jud^e M. \W. Gibbs, Little Rock, Ark.; fJr. 
Wright, Cuthbert, Ga.; F. D. Morton, Evansville, Lid.; Hon. Ricliard 
Allen, Houston, Texas; Rev. D. Jones, Oregon; F. J. Loudiii, Pittsburg, 
Pa.; F. L. Barnett, Chicago, 111.; Col. Robert Harlan, Cincinnati, Ohio; 
H. G. Ne\Ysom, Hastings, Neb.; Hon. J. H. Rainey, St. Denis Hotel, 
New York. 

The Committee on Migration submitted its report. [See Ap- 
pendix N.] 

It was read by J. H. Burch, of Louisiana. 

Rev. J. C. Embry, who was to have opened with a discussion on 
migration, sent a letter, which will be found in Appendix O. 

A debate of three hours on the report followed. Twenty-three 
speeches indorsing it were made, and at 12:15 a. m. the report was 
unanimously adopted. 

Resolutions of thanks to the Chairman, Secretaries, Governor of 
Tennessee, the American, and the citizens of Nashville were 
adopted, and the following offered by T. Green, of Mississippi. 

Whereas invitations to visit several institutions of this city have been 
tendered this Conference; and 

Whereas, a press of business prevented us from complying with said in- 
vitations ; therefore 

Resolved, That it is a source of deep regret that we could not find it 
practicable to visit said universities. 

Resolved, That these institutions have our hearty support and undivided 
sympathy and co-operation in their great work of uplifting our people 
from the thraldom of ignorance to the light of education and refinement. 

The Chairman, in a few words of good advice to his brother 
delegates, then pronounced the conference adjourned sine die. 

J. W. CROMWELL, Secretary. 
F, L. Barnett, Recording Secretary. 



/ 



^FFENDIX. 



A. 

SANITARY CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED 

STATES. 

There can be no subject so important to the colored people of this 
country as the condition of their health, because it makes very little dif- 
ference what rights, either civil or political, that may l)e accorded to them, 
or what wealth they may accumulate, unless they cnjoj^ health they will 
be of very little consequence to them. For they, too, must follow tlie 
destiny of all other races of manlvind, and become extinct from the rav- 
ages of disease and a premature deatli. And this is true, not only of the 
colored race, but of all others. Take, for example, the fearful epidemics 
of the yellow fever that have swept over some f)ortions of our Southern 
country, and we see that they have left death and desolation in their 
tracks, and those States that suftered most have become in some parts 
almost depopulated. Doctors and sanitarians have been taxed to their 
uttermost to apply means of cure; and sanitary measures, such as disin- 
fectants, quarantine and isolation to stamp out tlie disease and prevent 
its recurrence. In fact tlie most extreme measures liave been taken, es- 
pecially in the epidemic of the past j^ear, such as placing armed men on 
the line of infected districts or cities, with instructions to shoot down any 
person who might dare to pass to other parts. Not only has this been 
done in j'ellow fever, but also in small-pox, diphtlieria, cholera, and the 
plague, or black fever, as it is sometimes called. This disease iias recently 
visited Russia in an epidemic form, and in order to put a stop to its rav- 
ages, as it is said that about 90 per cent, die, the chief medical officer to 
the Emperor reconnnended the most energetic means, by which Avhole 
towns have been burnt to the ground, with the clothing of those that had 
been infected with the disease. His advice has been followed very closely, 
and the result s(j far lias been very benelicial. 

From the earliest ages of the world to the present, disease has threat- 
ened tlie destruction of portions of the human familJ^ For we read in 
Holy Writ how the Egyptians were seized with a grievous plague which 
thri'ateii(!(l their destruction, because they refused to let the children of 
Israel go; and also tliat tlie children of Israel themselves were threatened 
Avitli anniliilalion during tin'ir journeyings, and in one instance 24,000 
were slaiil in one day. In later days the cholera, diphtheria and yellow 
fever have made fearful inroads into the population of the world. In fact 
no large bodi<!s of people ciin exist together any great length of time 
without being decinial(Ml. unless diseas(! is guarded against in the most 
scrupulous manner. And esi)<>eially is this the case with regard to large 
armies; and it has he'cn found that more soliiicis die of disease than are 
killed by the severest battle. This was true in the case of the late war of 
the rebellion, and although a great many uu'\) were killed belonging to 
McClcllau's army in the battles near Kid anond, more were lost in tlwi 



APPENDIX. 



43 



• 
Chickahominy by disease. The same may be said of General Grant's 
army of the Potomac, that notwitlistanding the great slaughter that was 
made of the army iu the Wilderness, more died in hospitals from fevers 
and otiier si^ecitic diseases. This rule held good all through the war, and 
in all tlie armies, that disease made gn>ater havoc among the troops tlian 
was made by casualties on the battle field. So it was in the insurrection 
of Santo Domingo by the blacks, for while they fouglit with great brav- 
ery and desperation under such generals as Toussaint, T/ouverture, Dessa- 
lines and Christophe, and would, no doubt, have achieved their freedom 
and independence in any case, but the end was hastened by the great dis- 
aster produced by tlie diseases incidental to the climate. It is said tliat. 
the flower of Bonaparte's army Avas sacrificed by the thousands frohi yel- 
low fever, dysentery and kindred diseases. Nor need we confine the 
rule to armies, but the same may happen on shipboard, so that great 
navies are sometimes rendered perfectly helpless by disease. We find 
also that large cities in certain parts of the country are sometimes ren- 
dered almost uninhabitable by bad drainage, causing zymotic or prevent- 
able diseases to rage in epidemic forms. 

Now, with regard to the health of the colored people of this country. 
Since the abolition of slavery much has been said and written to discour- 
age us and disparage us in the eyes of the world, and to make it appear 
that slavery is our normal condition ; and many have been the predictions 
that we would soon pass away like the aboriginal inhabitants of Austra- 
lia and many of the Indian tribes of this country. In order to make good 
these predictions many of our enemies have fabricated all sorts of reports 
of the fearful mortality raging among us, when in reality there are 
scarcely ten cities in the country where a correct record of the deaths and 
births of the white and colored people is kept, and I can say without 
fear of contradiction that there is not one which is kept of the colored 
peojile alone. 

In 1866, a judge in Savannah, Georgia, in charging the grand ]ury, 
just after the city was turned over to civil authority, and sub- 
sequent to its occupation by General Sherman's army, said, among 
othA things, " that he deplored the abolition of slavery, because the f reed- 
men could not take care of themselves, and would soon become extinct 
from s-tarvation and disease, and that the Barnum of a hundred years 
hence would perhaps have a petrified Negro to exhibit to the world that 
he once existed." It has been said time and again that the Negro by the 
side of the white man will die out, and the vital statistics, where they are 
kept, show a larger proportion of deaths among the colored people than 
among the whites. But I propose to show in this paper that the natural 
increase among the colored people is larger in proportion than among the 
whites. In this country there are, comparatively speaking, poor facili- 
ties for obtaining vital statistics. In fact the peculiar relations between 
the general Government and the States are such that there is no general 
law that can be enforced to obtain them. Each State has its own laws, 
and very few, if any, are strict in their observance, and still less attention 
is paid to give correct reports of the colored people. Most of their re- 
ports are consolidated so as to make no dift'erence between whites and 
blacks. Therefore, it is difficult to get an approximation as to the per- 
centage of the death and birth rate between the two races. The mortal- 
ity, as shown by the reports among the colored people, has been very 
great of late, and it is so marked, that if it was not for tlieir great natural 
increase, as I will show you directly, the predictions of the Georgia jiulge 
might soon be realized. In the statistics that I shall give, you will notice 
that I have paid more attention to the District of Columbia than any 
other section, for the reason that while the reports here are not entirely 
reliable, they are more nearly correct than any other city I know of, es- 



44 APPENDIX. 

pecially with regard to tlic iiKjrtuary report; and as tliei'c i.s a large col- 
ored population here, a near approximation may be made of the death 
rate of other cities with similar numbers. The colored popnlation of 
Washington and the District before the late war, say in 1850, was 13,746, 
but wiien the slaves were declared contraband of war, quite a large num- 
ber Hocked to the city, and in the census of 1870 it had increased to 40,000, 
and in 1877 the estimated colored population was 45,000. Now, while 
much- may be said in commendation of the fairness of the late Board of 
Health towards the colored people, still they have done us an injustice, 
inasmuch as in 1870 the white population was said to be 91.567, and the 
colored 40,133, and in October, 1878, the whites 115,000 and the colored 
45,000; but in November, after the census ordered by the District govern- 
ment was reported, it was found that the white population was 106,000 
and the colored 54,000, and prior to that date the reports of vital statis- 
tics were based upon the figures mentioned above before the District cen- 
sus was made, and therefore the colored people have suftered; in that the 
percentage of the death rate was made larger than it should have been, 
while at the same time the percentage of the death rate of the white peo- 
ple was made smaller than it should have been. 

The first report published by the Board of Health of this District M^as 
in 1873, and embraced seventeen months, including part of 1872, but it is 
so meager and incorrect that I shall pass it over and commence w^ith the 
report of 1874, which states that there were — 

Marriages— Wiiite 69, colored 43; births, white 944, or 8.93 per 1,000- 
colored, 590, or 14.74 per 1.000; twins, wliite 16, colored 10. Deaths- 
White 1,169, or 14.9 per 1,000; colored 998, or 22.45 per 1,000. 

1875. Population— White 115,000, colored 45,000. Marriages— White 
373 or 3.243 per 1,000; colored 321, or 7.133 per 1,000. Births— White 
2,518, or 21.89 per 1,000; colored 1,397, or 31.04 per 1,000; still births 
white 147, or 1.277 per 1,000; colored 223, or 4.955 per 1,000; twins 
white 39, colored 20. Deatlis— White 2,210, or 19.22 per 1,000; colored 
2,142, or 47.60 per 1,000; percentage of mortality of children under five 
years, whiti; 425. coloied 422. 

1876. I'opulation— White 115,000, colored 45,000. Marriages— White 
348, or 3.026 per 1,000; colored 404, or 8.978 per 1,000. Births— White 
2,568,or 22.330 i)er 1,000; colored 1,717, or 88.155 per 1,000; twins, white ' 
32, or 2.78 per 1,000; colored 23, or 5.11 per 1,000; still births, white 143, 
or 1.243 per 1,000; colored 236, or 5.242 per 1.000. Deaths— white 2,153, 
or 1.872 per cent, of white i)opu]ation, and 50.706 i)er cent, of total mor- 
tality; colored 2,093, or 4.651 per cent, of colored population, and 49,294 
per cent, of total mortality. •> 

1877. Marriages— White 271, or 1.69 per 1,000; colored 281, or 1.75 per 
1,000. Birtiis— White 2,167, or 13.52 per 1,000; colored 1,725, or 10.80 
per 1,000; twins, wliite 56, colored 36; still births, white 142, or .88 per 
1,000; colored 230, or 1.44 i)er 1,000. Deaths— White 2,102, being 1.82 
per cent, of white population, and 51.23 per cent, of the total mortality; 
colored 2,001, being 4.44 per cent, of colored population, and 48.76 per 
«;ent. of total mortality. 

1878. Population, (old statement)— White 115,000, colored 45,000; jmp- 
ulation. (ni-w statement,) white 106,000, colored 54,000. Marria<res— 
White 273, colored 154. Birihs— AVhite 1,685, colored 1,201; twins, white 
9, colored 12; still births, white 110, colored 189. Deaths— White 1 572 
or 13.67 per 1,000; colored 1.451, or 32.24 per 1,000. 

Now, make the b.-st we can of it, it cannot he denied that tiicrc is a 
(earful mortality among tin- coloivd people in Mie District of Columbia; 
and what are the causes for it? Tliey are in.iny, and I will mention some 
of them. 

They depend a great deal upon the manner in which the peol)le live. The 



APPENDIX. 45 

great influx of fnieduien during the war produced a necessity lor small 
houses to rent, and the sharp sjiuiiculators of that day, who infested the city 
and preyed upon the Government and people, at once saw the chance of 
making money out of tlie necessities of those poor people, and conse- 
quently erected a large number of frame shanties, without anj' regard to 
tlieir convenience, sanitary or healtiiy condition. These were built in 
rows and blocks. All met a ready rental at fabulous rates. Now, what 
was the condition of those shanties, some of which remain to the present 
day? I will describe one such as I have seen many times in performing 
tlie duties of a physician. I found a one-story room about 12 by 12 to 
12 by 16 feet, and about seven feet in height, composed of inch and a half 
boards, the top or roof being covered witli felt or gravel. There were no 
water-spouts to lead tlie water from the roof, and consequently it ran 
close to the foundation and under the house, wliere it often remained for 
an indeflnite period, combined with other surface water and refuse mat- 
ters. And in order to press stronger on your minds the true character of 
these mansions of woe, I will quote from the report of one of the sanitary 
inspectors his impressions of them : 

"A shanty is defined by Worcester to be 'a mean cabin,' and that is 
evidently what they mean by the term in Washington and Georgetown, 
for no meaner cabins for temporary or permanent shelter can be found 
than some of om* wretched poor are born and exist and die in, here at the 
capital of tlie United States. And strange as it may seem, none are so 
mean that they have not an owner mean enough to charge rent for them. 
Down in the alleys, below grade, with combination roof of felt, tar, shin- 
gles, rags, tin, giavel, boards and lioles; floors damp and broken, walls 
begrimed by smoke and age; so domiciled are families, with all the dig- 
nity of tenants having rent to pay; perhaps four or five, or may be eight 
dollars a month, and proud of the distinction though often greatly exer- 
cised to meet their obligations." 

This is the testimony. Now, these little shanties would often contain 
a man and his wife and from three to six childi'en, and frequentl}^ his own 
or wife's mother; and at the same time a stove, bedstead, table, a chn.ir 
or two; perhaps a trunk or box containing provisions. The only open- 
ings to the building would be a window three by three and a small door. 
The stove was usually kept extremely hot, and the temperature of the 
room through the day would be from 75 to 85 degrees of heat, while at 
night, after the fire went out, the temperature would fall to the freezing 
point in extremely cold weather, because the walls of the shanty were 
neither lathed nor plastered, and therefore easily admitted the frost. In 
many there was a i:)iece of carpet, or such like, which retained its place 
for an indefinite period. The floors were scarcely ever washed up, and 
the beds were never aired. All the cooking was done in the same room, 
and the receptacles for waste water and other refuse matter were kept 
there. In some cases I have found a large tenement house with every 
room filled, having many families crowded together, and eAcrything in 
as bad condition as in the shanties mentioned above. Many of these were 
situated in narrow and damp alleys, and sometimes near marshy places 
and stagnant pools of water. Now, of the description tliat I have given 
of a large number of tenements inhabited by colored people of Washing- 
ton, it must not be understood that all tlie colored people there live in 
that way; but, on the contrary, it will be admitted on all hands that 
there is no city in the United States where the colored people as a rule 
live better; and I am of the opinion that more of them own their houses, 
which are often furnished in quite a luxuriant style. Another source of 
disease and death are the schools. Tliey are crowded to tlieir utmost 
capacity, the ventilation and drainage in many of them arc bad, and some 
of their rules are really pernicious. For instance, the children are com- 



46 APPENDIX. 

pelled to be at school by a certain lioiir, and if they sliould get there be- 
fore that time they are not allowed to go into the building until the hour 
has arrived, wliich in extreme cold weather is very severe upon the con- 
stitutions of young cliildren, and es^jecially if they have been ill already. 
Anotiier is that the cliildren are kept standing in line from five to ten 
minutes after recess, when they have been racing and become heated, 
where they often get chilled through while waiting to get in the 
building. And in the case of very young children it can readily be seen 
wiiat eflects it might have upon them. Then, again, after they get inside 
they are subject to cold draughts from the windows, which are opened 
by the teachers to ventilate the room, from the fact that the ventila- 
tion in other respects is defective. Of course the. ventilation is absolutely 
nec«s.*ary. and in fact very salutary to the teacher, who sits enthroned 
in tiie back part, and those who are seated near the center of the 
room, but those near the window suffer veiy severely after the exercise 
had during tiie recess. And, as I mentioned above, some of them may 
have just returned to school from an attack of measles, pneumonia, scar- 
let fever, diphtheria, and such like. The health officer of the District, in 
his last annual report, speaks especially of the bad ventilation of some of 
the school houses for colored children. I quote from page 19, in wliich 
ho says : 

"The building on Third street, between jSTew York avenue and L 
street, is unfit for human habitation. Here we found 140 children packed 
into two rooms, each 14 feet long, 22 feet wide, and 11 feet high. Of 
course the air, to one coming from the outside, was stifling. An attempt 
had been made to ventilate by cutting holes through the thin boards of 
the structure, but it availed little, cold air being taken in, but the impuri- 
ties not being carried out. It will be seen that there are but eighty-five 
and a fraction cubic feet of air allowed each pupil here, while the mini- 
mum quantity sanctioned by authorities is 200 cubic feet for each person, 
and this where provision is made for a constant supply of fresh air." 

And thus he speakg of a number of them. Now, coupled with all this, 
is the severe discipline of the schools which bear heavily upon children that 
are placed under the most favorable auspices and conditions of health 
and other respects; and can it be wondered at that when they have been 
born and raised under such unsanitary conditions, and then packed away 
in sucii charnel-houses for six hours each school day in the year, and that 
many of these pupils are under the age of eiglit j^ears, can it be wondered 
at, I say, tliat the colored people die in large numbers ? Then, again, there 
are the absolute privations of the necessaries of life, such as food, clothing 
and fuel, from sheer poverty, caused partly by an over ci-owded city and 
partly by bad management. Another great necessity that they are often 
deprived of is proper medical attendance, and the want of which is the 
cause of a great amount of suffering and mortality there. During the 
time tiie city was under a municipal and territorial government, appro- 
priations were made regularly to supply the poor witli proper medical 
attendance, l)ut since those governments have been abolished, and the 
District put under commissioners, very little has been done, from the. 
fact that Congress has failed to make the necessary appropriations. Con- 
sequently qinte a large number of colored people have died from tlie want 
of tliese grt^at necessities. The food they are often compelled to subsist 
upon tells very severely upon their health. It is often adulterated with 
all sorts of things. There are venders of sausages and otiier kinds of 
meats that are stale, wlio are unscrupulous enough to sell them for any 
price to get their money back, and tlie necessities of these poor people 
compel them often to buy the cheapest articles. And many times 1 have 
seen tiie children of poor colored j)co])le picking up in the market places 
Condiuiufd vegetable and fi nits, anil many cases of sickness and death 



APPENDIX. 



47 



have been traced to tliese sources. I am satisfied also that the night 
meetings of the colored people produce a great amount of sickness among 
them. Crowded togetlier as they are in bad ventilated churches and 
meeting-houses, with the teniperatiu-e ranging from 75 to 90 degrees 
Fahrenheit, and in most cases during the cold weather the windows 
being closed, and no ventilation being allowed, no one will for a moment 
doubt its effects. These meetings are Ivept up till a late hour, and many 
if not the whole congregation, from the excitement and exercises attend- 
ing upon the religious proceedings, are often bathed in perspiration, and 
in this condition are dismissed for home to cool off in the street, and 
therefore to contract catarrhs and pneumonias and various diseases of a 
fatal character. The same may be said of the pound parties and other 
promiscuous assemblages of various kinds. Now, notwithstanding that 
there has been a discrepancy in our favor of about 9,000 in the population 
that should have been placed to our credit in making out the death rate, 
still you will no doubt have noticed that the mortality of this District of 
the colored people has been fearful as compared to the white population. I 
think also that it is quite apparent as to the causes. I will now call your 
attentioTi to the statistics in other cities as far &s I can give them, because, 
as I have already told you, they are very imperfect everywhere : 

1878. Population— Baltimore, Md., white , colored . Deaths- 
white 5,759, colored 1,574; births and marriages not classified. 

1877. Population— Philadelphia,white 930,000, colored 30,000. Deaths- 
white 15,041, colored 9G3; births, white 17,619, colored 381. 

1877. Population— Richmond, Virginia, -white 44,400, colored 33,100. 
Deaths— white 677, colored 940; still births, white 41, colored 106. Deaths 
for seven years from 1871 to 1877, white 5,290, colored 6,492; births not 
r»i Q cm fipd 

1877. Population — Charleston, S. C, white 24,528, colored 32,012. 
Deaths— white 555 or 1 in 44.19, colored 1,258 or 1 in 25.44. Deaths for 
1874, 1875, 1876 and 1877, white 2,56.5. colored 5,071; births and marriages 
not reported. 

1877. St. Louis, Mo.— Deaths, colored 554; births, colored 198; still 
born 38. 

1871. Population of Ohio— White 2,601,946, colored 63,213;,per cent. 
of colored to white 2.38. Deaths— white 24,208, colored 1,071; per cent, 
of colored to wliite 4.42. No statistics of births or marriages were re- 
ported in this year. 

1872. Population same as in year before. Deaths— white 24,545, col- 
ored 657; per cent, of colored to white 2.67. Births— white 59,744, col- 
ored 1,391; per cent, of colored to white 2.33, Increase by birth, whites 
1.3 per cent., colored 1.1 per cent. No separate record of marriages. 

1875. Population same as before. Deaths— white 26,812, colored 659; 
per cent, of colored to white 2.45. Births— white 58,988, colored 1,080; per 
cent, of colored to white 1.8. Increase by births, white 1.2 per cent., 
colored .66. Marriages, white 23,052, colored 437; per cent, of colored 
to white 1.8. 

1876. Population same as before. Deaths— white 26.266, colored 726, 
percent, of colored to white 2.7. Births— white 61,410, colored 1,165; 
percent, of colored to white 1.8. Increase by births, white .99 per cent., 
colored .71. Marriages, wliite 25,761, colored 422; per cent, of colored 
to white 1.6. 

1877. Population same as before. Deaths— white 27,665, colored 795; 
per cent, of colored to white 2.8. Births— white 62,020, colored 1,543. 
Marriages, white 24,693, colored 892; per cent, of colored to white 3.6. 

Recapitulation: 

1871. Per cent, of deaths, 4.42; 1872, per cent, of deaths, 2.67; 187o, per 
cent, of deaths, 2.45; 1876, per cent, of deaths, 2.7; 1877, per cent, of 
deaths, 2.8. Average per cent., 3.01. 



48 APPENDIX. 

1872. Per cent, of births, 2.33; 1875, per cent, of births, 1.8; 1876, per 
cent, of births, 1.8. Average per cent., 1.62, 

Per cent, of increase by births, 1872 — white 1.3, colored 1.1; 1875, 
white 1.2, colored .66; 1876, white .99, colored ,71. Average white 1.16; 
average colored .82. 

Per cent, of marriages, 1875, 1.8; per cent-, marriages, 1876, 1,6; per 
cent, marriages, 1877, 3.6. Average per cent., 2.33. 

Now I have given you the figures of births and deaths from some of the 
principal cities of the country, and 1 have come to the conclusion, and I 
liave no doubt you vnll, that, notwithstanding the incorrectness of the re- 
ports, and especiall}^ of the birth rate, city life is not conducive to the 
increase of the colored population, but rather on the contrary to the de- 
crease, and we might as well look the matter directly in the face. For 
in nearly every instance where I have examined statistics I find the same 
results. 

And 'now that I have given the figures of the great mortality you will 
naturally enough ask, are there any remedies, and what are they? I 
answer there are remedies, and they are in the hands of the colored peo- 
ple wlio cannot throw the responsibility on otlier shoulders. In fact the 
eyes of the world are upon us, and it is to be hoped we will be equal to 
the emergency, and use the power in our hands to fulfill the destiny of the 
race. In the first place, it will be necessary for each city, town, or 
countj' to form sanitary associations, to co-operate with boards of healtli 
where they exist, and to look after tiie healtli of the colored population 
by getting up free public lectures on matters relating to sanitary att'airs, 
such as ventilation, drainage, diet and the proper care of chUdi-en. To 
the latter end they might imitate the old slave-holder, who made the old, 
worn out and superannuated slave women take care of the young children 
while tlieir mothers were at work in the field or attending to other mat- 
ters. And therefoi-e houses ihiglit be I'ented in different parts of the city 
and be converted into nurseries, furnished with all the comforts for young 
children; and let them be put in charge of two or three old women 
accfuainted with nursing, with doctors to look out for the sick, and allow 
niotliers to place their children there during the day for a small fee, and 
no doubt in time they might become self-supporting. Then, again, the 
colored churches should do as the white with regard to orphans, and form 
church orphan homes. In facta number of churches might unite together 
in the large cities, and form one to be supported by the respective 
churches; and by such institutions you might gather in the young and 
idle cliiidren a])out the cities and byways. Now, it is a remarkable fact 
that nearly une-lialf the population die under five years of age, and of 
wliicli the colored population furnishes about a little more than a half, from 
the same causes mentioned above when speaking about the general mor- 
tality. Many lives might be saved by having some institution to care for 
young girls, who are often led by the unscrupulous to a prematiu-e mater- 
nity. 1 know it will be said that such institutions are calculated to put 
a prmiiuni on vice, but it shoidd be remembered that many of those who 
need such a place are often left orphans, and have not had the fostering 
care of a mother, and therefore more apt to be led astray than otherwise. 
And besides, they are human beings, subject to all the frailties of man- 
kind, and very often not to be blamed so nuich as those who lead them 
captive; ami I believe it will be more humane to protect them in their ex- 
tremities, and afterwards to have them placed into some reformatory 
institution where they can learn some useful employment whicli may in 
time make good and useful woman of them. Such an association might 
also agitate Iht; subject of free or penny public baths— one of the most 
impoilant adjiuicts for the preservation" of health, and which should be 
f.stahlislied in every city. 



APPENDIX. 49 

Another question of the utmost iini)ortanoc for the attention of sneh 
an association is that of tlie j^reut number of still hirtlis amonj^ tlie col- 
ored people, of wliieli tliey funiisii fully tIiree-fourtlK< of the whole num- 
ber. Now, 1 have no doubt tliat some of tiiem are produced by criminal 
j>ractices, but a larg'e majority of tliem an- produced by accident, from 
tiie debilitated condition of many of the motliers, wlio ai-e comixlled very 
often to perform severe labor,'sncli as wasiiiui^, ironini>^ and .scrubbintj 
dmin*^ prei^nancy and near their continement, as well as Lo inliabit the 
miserable shanties tliey live in. Therefore, let us do all we can to pre- 
vent this fearful cause of mortality, for there is no natural reasons why 
the colore(.l jjcople should be thus afflicted more than the white. The 
causes are, to a great extent, preventable by strict sanitary measures, 
which are within our reach. Let us endeavor to spread among them tlie 
following rules : Keep the body clean, and use every ettbrt to get pure 
water, air and food. And let us see to it that our children are taught the 
laws of health. In fact every school, and especially every colored school, 
shouUl be furnished with a competent instructor in phy^siology and the 
laws of health; and, indeed, let our educators themselves be taught these 
\iTy laws, and then they will not over-crowd the school buildings, or tlie 
feeble j'oung with perplexing and long hours of study. For, no doubt, 
many a child has his or lier intellect dwarfed by being crammed witli too 
much study, as well as brouglit to a premature grave. 

Anothei" remedy that belongs more especiairy to the parents and the 
clerg}-, is the inculcation of early marriages. For it has been proven that 
tln! married life is more conducive to longevity tlian the single; and, to 
be more explicit on that point, T will quote directly from the report of 
the Health Officer of this District for 1878 : " The average age of the mar- 
ried, as compared with the single, shows a decided advantage in favor of 
tlie married. In the white race the married male exceeds the unmarried 
over li years, the advantage in favor of the white female being less than 
one year. Among the colored we And the life of tlie married male ex- 
ceeds that of the unmarried b.y over 17i, and the life of the married female 
that of the unmarried by 12 years.'' But j'ou will say to rac your reme- 
<lies and plans are too gigantic and impracticable. I do not believe it. 
The colored people build flue churches and maintain them, and wliy 
yould they not build such institutions as I have suggested? Besides tliis, 
we are here over five million of people just emancipated and struggling 
for an existence in a country whose resources are boundless, and we must 
meet these difficulties, and face them and grapple witli tliein. True it is tliat 
we have manj- kind friends among our Avhite brethren, and they have and 
will help us; Ijut we cannot and must not depend upon their assistance 
alone, and eveiy man among us capable must use his best endeavors to 
instill right principles in the young, and give encouragement to tlie old. 
Tlie sulterings of our people in the South are and have been such that it is 
absolutely necessary for them to seek a home in some other portion of 
our country, in which, it seems, they have taken the initiatory steps. Xow, 
in their new homes they will require all the sanitary rules and informa- 
tion in our power to impart to them, to enable them to stem the tide of 
ilifficulties tlie}' Ayill meet with in their struggles to create new homes for 
themselves, their families, and generations yet unborn. Xow, notwith- 
standing that there has been such a large mortality among the colored 
people in the large cities, still that has not been the rule in the rural dis- 
tricts and small towns, and therefore let us urge upon the colored peoi)le 
to leave the cities and go into healthy localities where they can improve 
their sanitary as well as their financial condition. For to live in tlie large 
cities in such numbers breeds povertj', indolence and vice, and all tlie 
consequences attendant upon tliem, prominei^t among which are sickness 
and death. 

4 



60 APPENDIX. 

•• Wlierever," .»ays a vory abh' writer on medical statistics, ••pauperism 
with its wants and misery prevails, there the mother is more likely to die 
in labor; there still biiths will be more frequent; there the deaths will be 
more numerous during infancy; there epidemics will rage with more vio- 
lence; there the recoveries from sickness will be fewer, and death will 
usually happen at an earlier period of life."' Now, then, if tliis be true, 
and 1 am satislied in my own mind it is with legard to the colored people 
of the United States, then it is not only with questions of political econ- 
omy, but still more important ones, namely: The great questions of hu- 
manity and tlie perpetuation of our race that we have to deal. The colored 
popidation of the United States has steadily incieased, from their first 
introduction up to the last census, at the following rate, oimmencing. 
with tlie e.Misusof 1790. At that time there were 757,208; in 1800, 1,002,037; 
1810, 1,377,808; 1820. 1,771.231; 1830, 2,328,642; 1840. 2,873,648; 1850, 
3,638,808; 1860, 4,441,830; 1870, 4,880,009. Here it will be seen that the 
colored popidation has nearly about doubled itself in every thirty years, 
and no doubt tlie census of 1880 will establish the fact that there are six 
millions of colored people in the United States, being nearly as many as 
the white population of the South at the breaking out of the lat(! rebel- 
lion. If, theu. they should increase at the same ratio that they have in 
times past, it will be seen that in 1910 there will be 12,000,000; in 1940, 
24.000,000, and in 1970, 48,000,000. 

Now, this estimate is made upon the increase of the colored people, as 
reported by the smeral censuses that have been made, under the most 
ruifavoi-able circimistances to us. But when we shall have been emanci- 
pated from the bonds of caste, poveity, and ignorance of the laws of 
health, we shall be able to claim a mucli larger increase than that enumer- 
ated above. For if has been proven by the statistics of the District of 
Columbia, which are the most correct, as far as the colored people is con- 
cerned, tliat I have examined, that their natural increase is greater in 
proportion tiian that of the white population. From 1874 to 1878, tlie total 
number of births rej^orted in the District of Columbia was, for the white 
population. 9,922; and, for the colored, 0.630— the former composing two- 
thirds of the population and the latter one-third. So you will see that 
although toe white population is twice as large as the colored popula- 
tion, their birth rale was only oue-thlrd larger. Now this estimate does 
not include the still births, of which the colored people furnished two- 
thirds, but which, under good sanitarj' regulations, may be largely re- 
duced. Now. our increase is a sulistantial one, and I make use of the 
word substantial because in the increase of the white p'>pulation it must 
be taken into consideration that there is a large emigration from all parts 
of the world, and especially Ireland and Germany, which swells their in- 
crease to a grtat extent every year, and therefore every decade these are 
all put into the census, whereas nearly every colored person placed upon 
the census rolls is a genuine increase by birth. 

Another fact established by the vital "statistics of the District of Colum- 
bia, and that is. we eompare favorably with the white poi)ulation in 
morals, inasmuch as during the Jive years mentioned above there were 
reported 1,334 marriages among the whites, and 1,204 among the colored. 

It is impossible in a pa])er like this to give full statistics of the various 
diseases that atllict colored people mostly, or the perceulage of deaths of 
the ditl'erei it diseases he|\vecn white and colored, but I propose in another 
e.oniniUMiratioii. at no distant day, to lay before the public more correct 
and full statistics, with some rules and directions for the preservation of 
health, which I hope may be of some beiielit to mankind, and more e— 
pecially to the emigrants to Kansas. 

A. T. AUGUSTA. M. A.. M. 1>. 

Washinoton. I>. C Miuf ]. 1879, 



APPENDIX. 51 

B. 
POLITKAL STATUS OF THE < OLOKED PEOPLE. 

By J. C. CoRBiN, OK Arkansas. 

Finding it to be impossible for me to attend the National Conference, 
I take thi? opportunity and manner of expressing- mj' regret, and also my 
. liope that iis meeting will be a grand success, and that its deliberations 
may be conducted with such wisdom, cahnncss and dignity as to attract 
the" respectful attention of the nation. Especially do I hopf^ that the Con- 
ference will ha\e the mor,^l courage to admit the truth, utter the truth 
and face the truth, whether seemingly it shall be for or against us as a 
race. If the propositions it submits are tenable and reasonable, they will 
enforce conviction; otherwise they will only provoke recrimination. The 
topic assigned me, "Tlie Political" Status of the Negro," seems at first to 
call f"r merely a definition, and to resolve itself into a discussion of the 
topic whetlier it is more desirable to be disfranchised by the law, or in 
violation of the law. 

Of the two conditions, that of being disfranchised by the law seems 
preferable, since it implies an absence of the violence which necessarily 
accompanies the other mode, or the political trickery which is sometimes 
used as an economical substitute for violence, being a little mon; genteel 
in appearance and no less conclusive in eft'ect. That disfranchisement of 
the Negro, by some one or all of these means, has been effected in por- 
tions of the South is a fact attested in the strongest manner by e.ye wit- 
nesses, statistics and results of elections. Tiiat white men have been 
disfranchised in tlie South by law and in opposition to law, is another 
fact just as well established. That the fact of the Negro's disfranchise- 
ment is not one peculiar to his race; he simply followed the precedent set 
liim long before by white n)en when he yielded to superior force. That 
they did so under peculiar circumstances is no reflection upon the man- 
hood of the one or the other. But a condition of disfranchisement, 
whether it be in consequence of law or in violation thereof, must neces- 
sarily be temporary and transitory. The spirit of our age. the genius of 
oiu- Goverjmient, the grave evils that follow in its wake, all strongly tend 
to shorten its duration; so that tiiey that be with us arc mightier than 
they that be against us. Like a pendulum, public opinion oscillates be- 
tween extremes, but can rest only at the mean position. The Negro 
occupies an essential position in the jiolitical economj' of the South, and 
is not destitute of social influence. Year by .year, as statistics show, he 
increases in number, wealtli and intelligence, the instrumentalities wliich 
alone can render his ballot eftVctive in px-otecting liis rights and securing 
his enjoyment of life, liberty and the pursuit of iiappiness. It is an ad- 
mitted fact that his labor is tiie basis of the wealth of the South. Time Mil 
certainly develop the truth that liis real welfare must be the object of as 
studious solicitude on the part of Southern political economists as that of 
the laboring classt-s of the North is on tlie part of Northern statesmen. 
If this lesson can be learned iii no other school, it will be in that of expe- 
rience, to whose stern teachings the most refractory nuist at length yield 
their acquiescence. Political experience teaches that overwhelming 
majorities are ominous. The projecting part, in parties as in matter, has 
a tendency to crack and fall. This principle secures to the Negro at least 
the portion of the " balance of power;" so that, as expressed by an Arkan- 
sas politician, " it don't matter which end is up, he is worth something to 
i^omebody.'' It should be his desire to make that *' something" a very 



52 APPENDIX. 

jin'iit sonictliinj;, and tliat " soiiu-body" the body of liis ft] low-citizens ; 
Phat is, lie must, by hard and persistent labor (ilevate his race to a higher 
jilanc of int('lli<?t'iice, wealth and morality. Let him become inspired 
with this as a purpose; nay, the purpose of his life, and he will soon learn 
lo cliiiu- to tliose things that eontribute to it, and to abandon those that 
lend in the opposite direction. First of all. let him have the moral cour- 
age to be poor at tirst that he may accumulate a competence at tlic last. 
Let him note well the ratio between his income and hisexpendittn-es, and 
dispense with all that is wasteful. Oue of his first objects should be to 
secure a home of his own, and, in making the purchase, to not forget that 
ii nnist include, if a farm, fencing, implements and seed, but reserve a 
])ortion of his means for these necessaries. Next, let him remember that 
■• righteousness exalteth a nation" and that "knowledge is power," and 
lie will in due time see that a political status established upon these sure 
foundations is satisfactory and permanent, while that which depends 
solelj' upon the vagaries of political parties follows the fortunes of those 
parties, and like them are at the mercy of every caprice of public sentiment. 



THE NECESSITY OF A NATIONAL REVIEW DEVOTED TO 
THE INTERESTS OF THE NEGRO-AMERICAN. 

By Wm. Stewart, of Bridgeton, N. J. 

Mr. Chairman., and Gentlemen of the National Conference of Colored Men: 

Upon invitation of a sub-committee, I wish to invite your attention lo 
this subject by picking out a few of the weaker reasons from the many 
powerful ones that may present themselves for your consideration for the 
uecessity of a National Review devoted to our interests. 

We all acknowledge the power and influence of the public press; we 
itnidily see w^ith what ease an able editor of an able public periodical 
makes his thoughts and opinions become the thoughts and opinions of 
lliousands : and u])on questions of public weal — deny it as vehemently as 
we maj' — the periodical tliat regularly visits our firesides is silentlj' but 
surely moulding our oi)inions in the same shape and fashions as those of 
the mind that controls the ])eriodieal. 

'I'he daily newspaper, although the excessive and almost incredible 
amount of brain-work that is required to make it up fresh and ncAV every 
day produces many contradictions on minor topics, biases our judg- 
jneiit in the long run upon matters of main and general interest, and we 
lind ourselves ti'acking over the ground of the editorials and congratulate 
ourselves with the discovery that our favorite daily jiaper thinks upon 
those matters and things precisely as we do, and we i)ronounce the editor 
to be a man of good jiKlgmeut, with a level head upon most subjects. So 
>il<'nt and insidious is the power of the jn-ess in conveying to our under- 
standing, tinough oin- eyes, the thoughts, oi>inions and conclusions of 
other mi-n, that we do not perceive that instead of the edit<ir expressing 
our conclusions we only reveal those which he has already fathered. 

The weekly ])aper, with its more mature thought, exerts doubtless a 
stronger inlluenee over a given number of readers than does a dailj' of 
ihoame mental a<-nmen, as well as fiu-nishing us with news and opinions. 
The weekly jtress of the country exerts, to a very great extent, a power 
in the formation of character. Most especially is this true of literary 



APiPENDIX. 6$ 

Wf^.'kiies, for the weekly literarv paper that regularly visits your homo 
and is handled by vour children^ will leave its mark for o;ood or evil whieh 
will last through" life. Of these two sorts we may well parai)hrase a say- 
ing and sav. like paper like people. The most elegant and i)olished of 
our pei-iodicals aix- the magazines. With their varied store of informa- 
tion, of thought, of opinion and sentiment, they are welcomed in all 
walks of life bv the old and young; and to the praise of American maga- 
zines be it said that a remarkable current of morality and Christiaiiity 
pervades thoin, while those pernicious principles of socialism, agrarianlsm 
and infidelity are treated with an almost puritanical rigor. In moukling 
{lublie opinion, however, magazines are about the least powerful of all 
our periodicals. The elegance of their make-up seems to destine thcin 
more for luxury than for utility in this direction. Even the pjctorial or 
illustrated weeldy seems to exert a greater intluence in formmg public 
opinion than do our magazines. 

For great learning, deep research, and the most powerful thought, it 
seems to me that our reviews have a place specially allotted to them. In 
rhem we look for the ripeness of judgment, the most mature thought, 
and the most candid opinion. It seems to me that they represent the 
liighest plane of civilization, or the highest intellectuality of it. Thrown 
■ aside by the popular reader as uninviting, it has the greater weight of in- 
fluence' among the truly learned and ainong those who, as editors of tlie 
public press, form and educate the opinions of the populace. The review 
is tlie fountain head of periodical and .iournalistic learning. Would yon 
purify the waters of a stream, b(>gin at the fountain heatl ; would you 
leaven a measure of meal, make liglit your leavcoi . Will you correct public 
opinion? it is public opinion which is so hard upcm us. Of hims.-lf .^ 
l)erson may not abhor us because we are black. Individually we may not 
be repugnant to the sense of a man or woman on account of our coloi-. 
Where t\w, public eye is not upon them they may feel no disgust from 
associating with us. In the solitude of a far western plain the associa- 
tion of a black and a white man may be as cordial as that of two brothers, 
[n the privacy of their own homes, where the clear eye and keen seem of 
public opinion cannot penetrate, the association may be still more cor- 
dial—nay. has been, as too many the children of white fathers and col- 
ored mothers and black fathers and white mothers could testify; but, for 
"opinion's s.ake,'* they prefer all such association to be ••strictly private 
and confidential.'' 

Will you correct public opinion, and will you begin to do so by apjM'al- 
ing, single-handed and alone, to each man of the public as you meet him ? 
Oi- will you strive to do so with your own little monthly, weekly or daily 
paper? Vain tasks, either of them, you will say. Public opinion is held 
by the millions; it is moulded, formed and fostered by the thousands of 
the daily and weekly publications of the country. These in tiu-n receive 
their inspirations from the learned and wise— the very solons of oiu- civil- 
ization. Each interest finds there its own exponent. It is this source, 
this fountain, that we must reach. It is there our interests must be repre- 
sented. Among the cultured and the great our infiuence must be felt. 
For this the necessity is that we enter tlie brotherliood of reviews, that 
our most learned minds may express their deepest thoughts, their most 
candid opinions, and their soundest judgments, with the certainty of hav- 
ing a respectable audience, and with the reasonable hope that some may 
be inspired by our interests, and that seed-gei-ms may spring forth than 
shall, through the myriad publications of the press, permeate every cur- 
rent and rill of public opinion to it< correction. 

There is another phase to this proposition, and a line of argumeni of a 
more common character, but it may appear more like an llhistraf ion of 
what and how to do than an argument of a necessity for doing. 



54 APPENDIX. 

To see oiirsi'lves as others see us, may not ahvaj-s be agreeable, and, 
accorilmg to the Scottish bard, the task is not easy of accomplishment; 
but still more ditlicult is the task of making people see us as we desire to 
appear to them. 

The American people delight to see the Negro in a humorous garb, or 
they are wont to see him in a ludicrous attitude. Americans are of a 
species of low, vulgar Wit, which seeks vent and enjoyment ii^the Brother 
Jonathan, or the Artemus Ward style ; they delight to drink in their phi- 
losophy after Josh Billings and the'ir political ethics after the order of Pe- 
troleum V. Nasby. And this is the better side of American nature. But 
the supromest deligiu to which this American wit aspires is in contem- 
plating and describing what they call the "Negro character." From tlie 
burnt cork negro minstrels to a choice poem, in their most elegant mag- 
azines, of "How Simmons took keah o' de baby," they will gulp down 
whole gustos of delight at the "Negro character." Our ignorance, our 
poverty, our education, our thrift, our uncouthness, our good address, our 
Aices, our virtues, our families, our homes, our great men, our small men, 
and even the holy shrine of our religion are all ruthlessly dragged over to 
tind food— grubs upon which to fatten this nauseating American vulgar- 
ism. And nothing is more disgustingly ludicrous than white people's 
efforts to thus portray the Negro character. Tlieir periodicals, then- 
literary papers, their religious papers, thi-ir magazines and their reviews 
teem with tliese distorted illustrations of the "Negro character;" and 
take to your home-circles, your fireside, the choicest of their magazines 
or reviews, and 'ere long your eye is oftended and your family angered by 
disgusting caricatures or paraphrases upon, perhaps, your veiy kith and 
kin. To see ourselves always mirrored in this light does not serve to 
imbue us w ith the highest notions of our race, nor inspire us with very 
ennobling emotions towards the "Negro character;"' and the very feel- 
ings which drive us from the minstrel shows, drive from our tire-sides 
the best of American literature, and its place is tilled witli the village 
political newspaper. There is a tremendous (in place of a better word) 
necessity for a powerful National Review which shall be backed with 
■stifficient capital, and edited with sutticient power as will make it rank with 
the best and ablest reviews of the country — at least in comparison nf 
constituencies — and with its excoriating lash, corn et this vulgar taste at 
its fountain head — the publisliers of American literature. 

Our opinions are worth something. Surely the opinions, the thoughts, 
the judgments of live million people are of some moment, but where can 
Wit lind a moiith])ieee':' Where tongue and utterance? The press is sup- 
pli«'d with the opinions, thoughts and judgments of men which it scatters 
in words of love or hate, of caution or chiding, of scorn or sarcasm, of en- 
treaty or command, and men read them and j)onder thereon and act as 
they are moved. But through what channel can the whites of this coun- 
try ascertain whiil arc tlie opinions, the thoughts, the judgments of the 
Negro-AMiei'ican ? 1 grant you there are a dozen — aseore — of tiny sheets 
llmtiiini;- in tlif breezes, and each little ki/e/in</ is battling away manfully 
and with all its little might for our i)eople. Tliey each and every one de- 
8er\'e more credit and greater support than they receive. I would 
there were dozens more of them, for many streams make a river. 1 say 
1 grant you that there are a score or more of worthy little colored 
journals existing, but from tin ir surrournlings and the paucity of their 
supporters, tlx; inlluenee they exert either in the ethics of oiu'selves or 
the coiuitry is very small. We have not a periodical in the land of sulH- 
cient caliljer to com)>el a quotation by the leading papers of the country. 

if quotations ar«' made fiom the Vfni.flion Ji'crorder. The National 
Baptist^ The Lunisiauiiin, T/ic WntilDiian. oi' any other colored periodi- 
cal by any white publication, it it on account of some jpurpose of its own 



AiTENDJX. 55 

and not because of anj' respect tlie wliite publication may liave for the 
rank or standing of those colored papers. None of those colored papers 
are in a position to force themselves upon tiie notice of their white con- 
freres, unless, perhaps, they do so as mendicants. 

White people prefer to show ns oft" than to have us show ourselves 
oft". If there are any dollars to be made oft' the Negro they prefer to make 
them. Tiie whif man wants to "•run"' the Negro now as always before. 
It seems to me that I have heard of a certain distinguished colored lec- 
turer who, when he was talking by rote the talk that his white agents 
found was protitable talk to them, he was a most wonderful genius, but 
when he would talk to suit himself aixl tell the white folks what he 
thought about them and matters generally, he was a tei-ribly bad fellow. 
Our agriculture, our fairs, our mechanical contrivances, our schools, our 
silk culture never become popular until their •' special correspondent "' 
has written them up, or their '• special artist "" has illustrated tiiem. and 
rlie result of this is that 

■' Full many a flower i> born to blush uusppii. 
And wftstc its fraKrance on the desfrl nir." 

among us. 

We have a veiy natiu'al and v*;ry pardonable pride of race-identity 
whenever anything good and ennobling is accomplished by us. 

Who of the race is not proud of rliat great sch.>lar and teacher, that 
Christian pupil and modest man. Bishop Payne, or tli^ learned traveler. 
Dr. Blyden, or our revered Douglass, or the gentb* sculptress. Miss Ed- 
raonia Lewis, or the polished lawyer and accomplished gentleman. Min- 
ister Langston, with scores of others ; but, with the exception of Bisliop 
Payne, to whom are they compelled to give the jewels of their best 
thoughts ? To the white people I Our periodicals neither invite nor com- 
mand their respect. For them to till our tiny journals with the rich, ripe 
treasures of their minds would be worse tlian casting pearls before swiiie; 
their thoughts and judgments and opinions w^ould be lost to the world. 
They must go to the journals of the whites and lose their race identity. 

W'e Negro-Americans do not tell to each other our grievances ; we 
simply know we have them, but we cannot express them to one another 
fi-om one end of the land to the other, and th(.' result of tliis is that people 
are disposed to think that our grievances are more imaginary than real ; 
that we have no real tangible grounds for complaint ; that we are per- 
petually happy and joyou^, and that ourcomplaining.is merely the result 
of a chronic- imrest. We cannot get our grievances in tangible shape 
witliont a more perfect and complete channel of communication. 

The scientific, the literary, the political, or the religious world needs no 
Negro National Review. They are all supplied with reviews adapted to 
each specific field. Neither 'does the Negro- American have need of 
any review in any of these branches of civilization. If he seeks any 
information in doctrines of religion, in politics, in literature, in art and 
science, the works of the scholars of the wctrld are before him and he 
can buy cheaper than he can make ; if he has anything to contribute to 
the ever swelling volumes of scientific or liteiary research, the magazines 
and reviews are ace -ssible to his pen at only the cost of his race identity. 

There are none to look after our interests but ourselves. "Othello's 
occiipatioirs gone." Slaveiy is abolislied ; the laws have been so amended 
that, ostensibly, we stand before the law equal witli all other American 
citizens. The Anti-slavery men and Aboliriouists sit idle. We liave no 
farther use for their services, publicopinioii informs us. The women-work- 
ers, wlio served fried chicken and bi-ciiir to liie passengers and ttmrists at 
the stations on the •'Underground Railroad." may now sit twirling their 
thumbs as they listlessly nx-k to ami fro with"tbeir eyes iiatf closed, 
dreaminglv eroniui:-. "nothing to do; I've notliing to do." Natiiau 



.'>8 APPENDIX. 

liioadhrini. the Quaker signal officer, was thrown out of eniploynielit 
until lie got a job of looking after the interests of " Lo, the poor Indian," 
Even the affairs of John Chinaman, the heathen, fomid plenty of appli- 
cants willing to attend to them ; but John is educated and shrewd, and 
liandles a great deal of money, so he can mind his own business without 
earing much about the interference of the "Melican man. 

Only the interests of the Negro- American sufler for want of attention. 
The interests of all other races and classes are sufficiently represented. 
There are authoritative German, French, Spanish, Italian, Irish, Welsh, 
Swedish, Scandinavian, scientific, literary, commercial, financial, agri- 
cultural, railway, mining, manufacturing, and medical journals attend- 
ing to every conceivable interest throughout its every conceivable division 
and ramification, and in tiiis busy world all the hands must be busy look- 
ing after their own interests. Then who can look after the interests of 
the Negro- American, and where is the authoritative journal to be the 
mouthpi(^ce, so badly needed, for the whole race, a National Review un- 
trammeled by sectai-ian bias, or a fawning, mercenary policy to keep uj) 
its existence? The race needs a National Review, ilevoted to its interests, 
for its own good. A taste for self-praise should be encouraged, but it can 
only be through praiseworthy merit ; and a taste for our own literature 
ought to be fostered, hut it should only be when that literature is of a 
praiseworthy and wholesome character. "Let another praise thee and 
not tliine own lips." says Holy Writ. When our people see that their 
National Review keeps good company; wlien they see that the best 
papers of the country make excerpts and (luotations fi'om it ; when they 
see that emanations from the pens of their own race are copied from their 
own colored review, and placed alongside of the productions of the 
greatest scholai-s of the age, they will not then be ashamed of a good col- 
ored ne\\'spaper, as many now are, but a pride of j-ace will be strength- 
ened, and they will find themselves extolling the capabilities of this One 
or tiiat one and illustrating with quotations, selections, and the like. 
These, gentlemen of the Conference, are only a few of the reasons for the 
necessity of a National Review, devoted to the interests of the Negnv 
American ; but I am so sure that many others, and each one more pow- 
ej-ful. will present themselves to you, that I am inspired with the hope 
th.it this Conference will enter into ways and means for raising a sufficient 
capital to insure its publication. 



D. 

OPPORTUNITIES AND CAPABILITIES OF EDITCATED NE- 
GROES. 

I'.v W ri.LtAM Stim.. 

A'conling to the programme, 1 am to pres(>nt for the consideration of 
thi.- ("onference some thoughts upon the "Opportunities and capabilities 
of educated Negroes." 

I.uug before tiie advent of emancipation, and <-ver since, tlie attitude 
of our people in thi< eoiintry lias absorbed no small share of my stiidy. 
I have looked upon tiieii- condition witli intense interest, feeling to be 
fully i<lentified with tliem, however regarded. However, in the discusgion 
of tiie subject, I take it for granted that I shall best, meet the required de- 
mands by confining mysilf (^hietly to the present momentous problem in- 
volving iliH Ntfjfro'* «tatu;' ahicw tumncipution. 



AJPfEUblX. 5? 

To say that the dawn of freedom fifteen years a^o found him otlier 
tlian very poor, witliout land, without echieation, withoiU homes, with- 
out protection, universally proscribL-d, and wliolly dependent, would be 
to deny facts with which all are familiar. 

Thus openina; his e\M.\s in freedom, and taking his tirst trembling steps 
in pursuit of his manhood, he is at once made to realize the great chang(! 
in his existence. 

Although without a penny in liis pocket, the gnawings of hunger soon 
admonish him that he must have something wherewith to satisfy this de- 
mand of nature, lie is without a roof over his head. In tViis condition 
he is not safe either in sunshine oi' storm. Those who procured his free- 
dom, save the army, are in distant parts of the country, far from being 
accessible to his immediate pressing appeals. But not so with those whom 
he had so recently been compelled to serve. They are all around him. 
In needing a shelter, or employment, or a piece of land to till or to pur- 
chase, or a store where to buy his provisions, clothing, medicine or what 
not ; a physician to attend him when sick, a lawyer to defend him 
when in trouble, a scribbler to write him a receipt or an agreement, 
or a conveyancer to draw him up a deed, the only sources to apply to in 
. ninety-nine cases out of a hundred were those from under whose yoke 
he had been delivered. 

Viewed in this light, what possible reason was there for supposing that 
millions of people thus situated would have other than severe and sore 
trials to encounter for at least a score of years before he could reap 
largelj' the fruits of freedom. Common sense alone would abundantly 
prove that without education, however industrious, he would be but 
poorly qualified to protect and economize his hard earnings. And with- 
out being thus prepared to protect himself, how is he to get property ? 
How is he to become a thrifty farmei- or planter? IIow is he to eet a 
footing as a storekeeper or tradesman ? How is he to advance and be- 
come a skilled mechanic, an able attorney, a good phj^^ician, or a man 
capable of properly divining the word of truth in espousing the teach- 
ings of the Bible? 

So long as the masses are found in this uneducated attitude the day is 
not yet when their jjeculiar troubles will cease. The fact that there was 
a Mnivei"sal hungering and thirsting for education among the freedmen 
when freedom had come, and at the same time a goodly number of noble- 
hearted, liberty-loving men aiul women in the North who were ready 
and willing to brave the perils of the South to help satisfy this thirst and 
hunger, is abundant cause for trusting that the race will in due time be 
uplifted. 

Surely there never was a people more needy and deserving of education. 
And it hardly can be too much to adil that this generation will find it 
<litiicult, in sui-veying the various fields of Christian missions and phil- 
anthropic works, to tind any laborers who have more nearly emulated 
the example of Him who said, "Fori was hungered and ye gave me 
meat ; 1 was thirsty and ye gave me drink," &c., than some of the teach- 
ers among the freedmen in the South,, as I shall endeavor more fully to 
indicate in another part of this paper. 

This silent, potent force, this labor of love to God and good will to 
man has kept in a great measure the heads of the freedmen above the 
waves and billows. 

In the earlier dark days of Ills struggles, seeing his unprotected aiul 
wretched condition, the Government instituted the Freedmen's Bureau 
with a view of meeting his Immediate pressing wants in various ways. 
Through this agency a great deal was accomplished for a short time, but 
through the politicians and bad management iti- usefulne.~t was soon 
brought to naught. 



5M APPENDIX. 

At this "lavf juncture not a few adherents to the doctrine of emanci- 
pation felt well satisfied that if the ballot could onlybe j?iven to the freed- 
nian. he would be \\'ell able to take care of himself a^aiiist all odds. Ac- 
eordiui^ly tlie tifteenth amenilnient was passed, and the ballot came. 

This boon was rei^arded as the top stone to the fabric, and a complete 
solvini? of the Nej^ro problem. 

He is henceforth expected naturally to vote right in a body for the party 
who conferred this boon upon him. notwithstanding his w\int of knowl- 
edge and liis peculiar surroundings. 

In the midst of this unsettled attitude, in order to encourage his aspira- 
tions and incite in liim habits of economy, with a view of enabling him to 
buy property and to begin the world more independently, the Freed- 
men's Savings and Trust Company was organized. Doubtless this enter- 
prise had its origin in the minds of men with the best intentions. And 
at lirst some men widely known for their woith and devotion to the cause 
of freedom were among its patrons and managers. But soon afterward 
unscrui)ulous men, under fair and insidious professions, by scheming, 
eliected a radical change in the charter, and thus got the control out of 
the original hands into their own, when thej" had matters much as they 
desired them. How very sadly the freedmen had to pa}' for this opera- 
tion is too well known. 

How'cver, in this bold undertaking the most signal fact verilied was to 
the effect that even under ver\' great poverty and ignorance moie than 
70,000 freedmen could be found ready and willing, on simple faith, to 
intrust their hard earnings to the amount of some $57,000,000 to the cus- 
tody of this concern, under the delusion that the Government was fully 
obligated for every dollar of its liabilities, when, in fact, tlie Government 
was not liable for a single dollar. 

Jn recalling the tiery trials and great hardshii)s which the freedmen 
have had to undergo from witlft>ut and within, my sole motive is only to 
intensify the fact which has unwaveringly been paramount in my mind, 
namely : under any circumstances, even the most favorable that could be 
expected, there are great suftering and very liard work foi- the Negro to un- 
dergo, in whatever light his condition may be regarded. But under no 
circumstances is his elevation to be accomplished and his rights respected, 
except through tlie medium of education. 

And now I will endeavor to show how the Negr-o's opportunities and 
capaViilities may be made available in remedying his own ills, and in 
bringing deliverance, not only to himself, but in hirgely adding his iiuota 
towanl helj)ing to bring about peace, order and ])rosi)eritv to the entire 
South : ' 

1. Jle is about tli" only laborer in the South; he has been fidly inured 
to lianlsliips all his life ; he need appreliend no greater danger of iiaviug 
to compete with any otlier class (»f laborers. In a sense, therefore, he Js 
in an attitude, witli the aid of some book knowledge, to understand the 
value of his labor — capital. With education, when he works he will know 
liow niucli he earns. Many ignorant laborers cannot tell. When he spends 
he will know how inneli lie s|>ends; an ignorant man (cannot keep his ac 
count. When he buys a piece of land oi- undertakes to l)uil(l, he will lirst 
sit down and coiuil the cost, to see if he is able to finish; or whether some 
one is going to palm off u[)on Inni a bogus deed or a fraudulent agree- 
ment. When he works on shares, or deals at stores cm credit until the 
eroi) is harvested, he will know how to keep his stoie book, and the 
lmi»oi-tancf of having his agreement and receipts, ite., carefully witnessed 
and >;afi-ly preserved against the time of settlement. In thousands of in- 
slanee-; an ignorant man is imposed upon simply because he can be im- 
posed upon by imj)unity, by men who would not fancy being caught act- 
ing thus toward an intelligent one. In ninety-nine cases out of a hun- 
dred thit rule would be likely to hold good, 



APPENDIX. 5J) 

An intelligent man would not feel hound to work under or rent undei- 
a man whom he would have everj' reason to believe would cheat liim when 
the settling day arriveil. On the contrary, he would not only .shun suoli 
an en)ployer himself, but he would advise his friends to do likewise. 

This management, although silent, would be very potent in effecting a 
remedy. The better class of Southerners would have no fault to find with 
this course, and the high-handed and outrageous element would have but 
little sympathy from any source, and very liard work to manage their 
operations. 

2. With some book knowledge, a num in finding himself badly located 
could readily perceive how a change might better his condition. Tlnough 
the aid of his geography, maps, books and papers, and his ability to hold 
correspondence with other localities, the way of getting out of his present 
thraldom would not be far to seek. 

Every citizen, white or black, is free to exercise tliis privilege in this 
respect, no one will deny. If one place does not suit him he can go to 
another of his own choosing. 

Here I am reminded that emigration is exciting a good deal of attention 
at the present day. 

Never were men more in need of intelligence, in order that they miglit 
judge wisely concerning the present exciting crisis. If not wide awake, 
they are likely to jump out of the frying-pan into the fire. 

But if he can read he may study and learn what practical emigration 
lias done for millions on this continent. The great Western States, for in- 
stanc ', aftbrd an opportunity fora good illustration. Emigration cei-tainly 
has been the making of all tlie W^estern States, if not of this entire coun- 
trj'. It was never conducted, however, under anj' en masse system, but 
generally on individual account or under the auspices of voluntary small 
companies. 

While the great majority of these emigrants at first went poor they 
carried with them a thorough knowledge of husbandry, mechanism, store- 
keeping, trading and all kinds of industrial labor; besides very many had 
been inured to hardships, and were quite ready and willing to rough it in 
the woods, in log-cabins — to begin labor by cutting down and clearing up 
the forest under great difficulties. Among those thus emigrating were 
skilled laborers — men wlio could make axes, plows, cultivators and im- 
plements of husbandry of every description — men who could not only do 
the most ordinary manual labor, but could build great biidges, railroads, 
steamboats; who had a knowledge of printing; could publish i)apers and 
books, could teach .schools of learning from the lower rudiments up to 
the higlier mathematics — men who could construct factories, l)uild found- 
ries.-organize baid<ing in.stitutions, &c. Besides in adjacent parts of the 
country capitalists were ready, whenever signs indicated successful invest- 
nients. to furnish all necessary means if on no otlier ground than .simply 
personal interest. 

Now, I am compelled to say, with deep regret, that our poor people 
are not prepared to emigrate under any such encouraging a.spects. They 
have been too long shut out from the light of knowledge to be ready for 
any en /«(/,s-.ve emigration movement. In going, with very few exceptions, 
they could only hope to llnd employment as hewers of wood and drawer.s 
of watei-, in fields where Laborers migiit be sutficiently numerous to meet 
all demands either in rural districts or in the towns. Thus with appar- 
ently continueil hard struggles, only to combat, the road to sucr-ess would 
still be dark and discouraging. 

The Gx'eat Teacher said on one occasion ; 

''For which of you intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first 
and counteth the co<r, whether he have sufficient to finish it '! Lest I aply, 
after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish ir, all that 1?«- 



hold liiTn boiiiii m mock him, saying, this man began to build and was not 
able to lini^il."' 

How applicable this lesson is to everj--day life, and if heeded how often 
men would be prevented from buttin"- tl)eir heads against a stone. With 
the ''army of ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with 
twenty thousand,'' the "sitting down ami counting the cost" might be of 
rhe greatest consequence. 

A hint to the wise is sufficient. 

n. Equality in business. This is a question that should interest every 
iutidligent colored man. 

More or less from a boy T have studied this question, and since emanci- 
Itation I have weighed the situation of our people, uneducated and almosi 
universally tilling the ordinary lower callings as laborers, with intensf 
Interest. Scarcely have I ever met with an intelligent colored man fi-om 
the South but that I am sure to ply him with a number of questions after 
this order: " How are the freedmen getting on? Are they getting edu- 
cation and into more comfortable houses? Are some getting into busi- 
ness; if so, what ? Is the marriage relation being moi-e firmly cenunited ?'" 
Generally the answers have iiulicated much improvement, in some 
instances very marked, notwithstanding the outrages in some neighboi-- 
hoods. In order that I may the more forcibly bririg out the idea that 1 
wish to convey, I will here quote an extract from an old letter written by 
the poetess and lecturer, Mrs. Harper, directly from the old mansion of 
the late ex-President of the (Confederacy, which reads thus : 

"My Dear Friend : It is said that truth is stranger than fiction; and 
if ten years since some one had said that in less tlian ten years yon will 
be in the lecture Jield; you will be a welcome guest under the roof of the 
President of the Confederacy, though not by special invitation from him; 
that you will see his brother's former slave a man of business and influ- 
ence;" that hundreds of colored men A\ill congregate on the old baronial 
possessions: that a school will spring up there like a well in the desert 
dust; that this former slave will be a magistrate upon that plantation; 
rhat labor will be organized upon a new basis; and that under the sole 
auspices of the moulding hands of this man and his sons will be developed 
a business whose transactions will be numbered in hundreds of thou- 
sands of dollars, wouhl you not have smiled inci-edulously ? And I have 
liveil to see the day \\ heii the plantation has passed into new hands, and 
rhese hands once wore the fettei-s of slavery. Mr. Montgomery, the pres- 
ent proprietor by contract of between five and six thousand acres of land, 
has one of the most interesting families that I have ever seen in the South. 
They are building up a future which, if exceptional now, I hope will be- 
come more general hei-eafter. Everj^ hand of his family is ad<ling its 
quota to the success of this experiment of a colored man both trading and 
farming on an extensive scale. Last year his wife took on her hands abonr 
130 aces of land, and with her force "she raised about 107 bales of cotton. 
One daiiglitcr, an intelligent y<Hing ladj% is jiostmistress, and I believe 
assistant book-keeper. One son attends to the planting interest, and 
another daugliter attends to one of the stores. The business of this firm 
of Montgomery A Sons has amounted, 1 understand, to between three and 
four hundred thousand dollars a year." 

This was very n-freshing news to me when it was first received ; so 
much so that Iput it into tiie hands of C'ol. J. W. Forney, and he pub- 
lished it in th<! press with a fitting editorial. One more incident worthy 
of note, nanit'ly : for several seasons. I have been informed, this enter- 
prising tirm \\a^ comiit'teil with the leading corton-planters of the South, 
at the aiuuial lairs held at St. Louis, and two seasons at least has carried 
oil' the premiums. 



APPENDIX. 61 

HtTP. too. arc oUkt iiotabK' <':isi's. Itotli male and female, who liavo, 
acliit'vod woniltTS, (•oiisideriiii^llicir oi)iK)rtmiitu's, which iM<i^lit he immi'd, 
hut I cannot take the tune now to particidarize tlieni. llowever, it is 
witli especial satisfaction that we can point so delinitely to a family who 
have accomplished so much in so short a period of time. Indeed this is 
precisely the kind of power we want to see gTOwinji' anion<>' ns. Time, 
it makes but little noise, hut it is very potent in dealinjj^ deadly blows 
ajjainst prejudice and in favor of our common manhood. 

I appreiiend but few comparatively realize how ureatly onr 
cause wonhl be strengthened by even a very moderate number of sub- 
stantial business men in the various branches of productive industry — 
conducting farms, stores, trades, and engaged in literary pursuits tlial 
require brains. These matters should deeply concern us. especially 
those of us who are educating our sons aiul daughters. Only as we are 
siioAving signs of improvement and determination in these respects shall 
we be able to retain the S5^mpath}^ and co-operation of our old fi-iendsarul 
enlist the interest and agency of new ones. So long, or wherever we are 
not found advancing under freedom, and with the opportunity of educa- 
tion, we shall do little toward breaking down the color line or toward 
conquering the prejudices which now proscribe our sons and daughters, 
who are ticted by education and character to till stations in life other 
than menial ones. 

I am aware than I am now treading on tender ground, and would 
fain forego doing so if I could be Just to my subject and mj' unfortmiate 
race by shunning this unsavery truth, upon which I think we need have 
our minds stirred about as much as an}^ other that I know of — of a tem- 
poral nature at least; for T feel ([Uite convinced when looking at the at- 
titude of our people, and the work before them, that there is but one way 
out of the old ruts into the liberty and prosperity that we feel naturally 
and legally entitled to, namely, simply 'redeeming the time," by intense 
earnestness, by rigid economj', by encouraging one another in every 
honorable and commendable undertaking, by acquainting ourselves with 
the lives and labors of good men and women who have labored success- 
fully to bring about great reforms ; and have had overwhelming diffi- 
culties to overcome . Also bj' studying the lives of individuals Avho have had 
great poverty to begin with and no friends to aid them ; but with un- 
daunted courage, perseverance, and a firm faith, have removed the 
mountain, and established theniselves among the foremost men of their 
day. 

Our country is full of characters of this description, both of native and 
foreign birth, and, I am glad to say, some among our people not ex- 
cepted. 

*' Knowledge is power," is one of the books we ought to study w^ell, after 
acquainting ourselves with the Book of Proverbs. Also, we should not 
forget to make ourselves familiar with another work of great value, 
jiamely, a volume called '* Piu-suit of knowledge under difficulties." 

The lives of self-made men are readily obtainable for a mere tritle, and 
contain generallj" very profitable and instructive reading, when well- 
selected. By reading such instructive works, and by ignoring all liglit 
and trashy literature of a yellow-cover grade, we could sunnnon to our 
aid the well-digested thoughts of men of character and great success, 
which would doubtless insjnre us greatly in struggling through our diffi- 
culties. 

The truth is, good books of all kinds are so cheap and so conmion, on 
every vital subject, that no man who can read is excusable if he is not 
well-informed generally. Indeed, we must make hay while the sun 
shines. 

For it must be admitted that the public attention is in a peculiar sense 



62 APPENDIX. 

turncrl toward n.<. and in a inoasuro, whether wo understand it or not. 
wp are held resj^onsible to demonstrate b}- unmistakable sij::nals that we 
are advaneim; morally, mentally, and financially. 

\ow. it will not do for us to cry, there is a lion in the way all the time, 
hnt we must move the lions out of the way ourselves occasionally. 

Mnny of the hardships which daily besets us on every hand would soon 
vanish under iutellii^ent busiuv-ss enterprises and energy. 

In the days of slavery, when many believed and advocated the doc- 
trine that the Negro had no brains or mental capacity for business, ora- 
tory, or science, our good old abolition friends wanted no better comba- 
tants to refute this fallacy than the fugitive slave, matchless orator, and 
able editor, Frederick Douglass, now the honored marshal of Washing- 
ton. The giant intellect and powerful eloquence of Rev. Samuel R. 
Ward proved effective on one occasion in quelling a Xew York mob 
(black as night he was) when the police force seemed utterly powerless 
with that mob. It seemed almost proviilential to have such men as Henry 
Ribb, William Wells Brown, J. W. Loguen, and many others (who had all 
worn the yoke, and had only released themselves by escaping on the un- 
derground railroad) demonstrate by their rapidly-acquired intelligence 
and education that it took but a very few .years for a fugitive to render 
liimself capable of writing an interesting narrative, or tilling an editorial 
chair, or of instructing and entertaining large audiences either in Anier- 
i'^a or on the other side of the ocean. 

The freednieu have only to seek to emulate the example of these men 
in order to make their mark in business, letters, art, or any of the ad- 
vanced callings among educated men. Indeed, only as desert can be 
proved by the acquisition of knowledge and the exhibition of high moral 
character in examples of economy and a disposition to encourage indus- 
trial enterprises, conducted by men of our own ranks, will it be possible 
to make political progress in the face of the present public sentiment. 

Being far behind in the race, o\n- people must not deem it too great a 
nijuinnient to be obliged to put forth double exertions to catch up. If 
lliev undertake farming, they must tiy not only to have their lands well 
cultivated, but they must have their houses, barns, fences, stock, &c., all 
up to the times. Again, if we turn our attention to mechanism, we must 
have our eyes single to one paramount aim. namely: to let our work 
jirove that there is no color line in mechanism or art. If we should 
choose to fill a sphere of a professional character, as physician or attor- 
ney, we must not imagine that our patients or clients are ignorant, and 
^\ill be satisfied with mere pretension or ordinary attainment; and, if Ave 
fail of success, that we can be excused simply by pleadjng prejudice. If 
we venture to open a shop or store, let us not "forget that we must not 
only sell as cheap as anybody else, but we must sell equally as good 
goods, and at the same time be a little more accommodating to ever}- 
body, without legard to race, color or politics. If we would avail oin'- 
-^elves of ci-edit, we must learn to practice by the i-ule— our word is our 
bond. By such a single eye to success, however unfair or over-exacting 
such d<'mands might seem in the eyes of some, our advancement v.ould 
be steady and >ure, and the results in every way sufhciently gratifying 
to mak<' u]) for wiiatever self-denial and extra pains or labor required. 

One fact all must agree upon, namely : Our condition is very lowly, 
and in niany respects sad. And there" are no signs discernible to niy 
mind that we are likely to have our status improved verj'^ soon, either 
thi-ough f)oIiticsor the" lilieral bestowal of l.ind, money or the prefer- 
ments of any positions by the (JovernnnMii . Hence, we have nowhere 
\^^els(! to look but to self-reliance and to Ot'd. 

4. True, we are not friendless. We are not without wise and faithful 
coiuisfdors and instructors, We aii' not without sympnthizers who 



r 



APPENDIX. 63 

pity UP and wish ii.< well, if iii)Miin<; more Wp are not without a Oovorn- 
ment tlial iicknowleclj^es us as citizens and ('(luals i)efon' the hiw. Wc are 
not debarred from eniif^ratino^ to the North if we cannot live in peaci- at 
the South. We can go to anyforeijjn land if we cannot endure our lot in 
the land of our nativity. We'are lar<,f(dy accessible to chnrclies, and sonn- 
very good schools have been provided for us. And now I wi<h brietly to 
consider onr opportnnity with regard to the educational work existing for 
our special benefit. Tlii.s is an agreeabh; task, althongh it would be very 
hard to portray, or even feebly indicate, the labor:> and achievements of 
the noble-hearted and self-sacrificing men and women who have been 
dilTusing education among the freedmen in various Southern Stat( s dur- 
ing the last decade. 

Before me I have the annual report of the American Missionary Asso- 
ciation for 1878, and lind that the society have 37 schools, colleges and 
nniversities in the Sonth, 7 of which are regularly chartered, and are lo- 
cated as follows : 

HAMPTON NORMAL AND AGUICULTUKAJ. INSTITUTE, HAMPTON, VA. 

Xuniber of pupils, 3;{2. The coiu'se of instruction embraces three years. 
During this period the pupils are made as proficient as possi1)le in read- 
ing, penmanship, arithmetic, United States history, grannnar, physiology. 
moral science, natural philosophy, vocal training, Bible lessons; likewise 
instruction in agriculture, &c., &c.. General S. C. Armstrong being prin- 
cipal. 

BEREA COLLEGE, BE RE A, KY. 

In this institution, under the presidency of Kev. John G. Fee, the pecu- 
liarity of the color line is not known. Here the higher branches, embrac- 
ing the classics, are taught, and its success has been highly gratifying. 

FISK UNIVERSITY, NASHVILLE, TENN. 

'rhis widely-known and justly famed uiuversity is represented by an 
able facultv and the popular Jubilee Singers, and, without a doubt, is 
destined to'accomplish a marvelous work for freedom, and to live long in 
history. Rev. E. M. Cravath is its president; number of pupils. 338. 
The instructions embraces mental and moral science, Greek, Latin, 
French, mathematics, music, tic. 

ATLANTA UNIVERSITY, ATLANTA, GA. 

Rev. E. A. Ware is president. English branches and the higher ma- 
thematics are here taught also. N'umber of pupils, 244. 

TALLADEGA COLLEGE, TALLADEGA, ALA. 

Chartered in 1869. Rev. E. I'. Lord, principal. Number of pupib. 
•272. English branches, with higher grades, are also taught in this insti- 
tution. 

TOUGALOO UNIVERSITY, TOUGALOO, MISS. 

There are 190 pupils in the various departments of this institution, with 
the regular higher branches taught, under the presidency of Rev. G. 
Stanly Pope. 

STRAIGHT UNIVERSITY. NEW ORLEANS, LA. 

Here a thorough corps of able professors and teachers is found, and the 
pupils number 287. President, Rev. W. S. Alexander. 

My allusion to the work of the American Missionary Association must 
suflFer single with these 7 institutions. Of course, this only simply indicates 
the great work that is being carried forward in this single dirciction. The 
remaining 29 schools in the South supported by this organization, although 
deserving the highest commendation, cannot be characterized here, sim- 



64 APPENDIX. 

ply for want of time and ruoni. Iiuleeil, I regret having to treat in thp 
>aMH' manner some fifty or more like institntions, inider tlie auspices of 
Metliodist. Presbyterian, Protestant Episcopal friends, itc, who have 
heeii qnietly tliou<;h earnestly pnshing the cause of education effectively 
amoni;- the freedmen. Add to this list some seventeen theoloo^ical school>, 
nnder^ the auspices of various denominations, namely: Congregational, 
Metliodist, Presbyterian and Baptist, and a faint idea, at least, maybe 
g;ittiered respecting the opportunity of the Xegro to-day over his oppor- 
tunity tifteen years ago, or before freedom was proclaimed. 

Material might here be found for a large. volume of rare interest and 
great value, and I trust the day is not far distant when a colored man of 
abilit.\- will engage in tlie work of diligently gathering these rich materi- 
als, and will bring forth in a manner not only creditable to himself and 
race, but will also do equal credit to the scores of worthy and faithful 
teachers. 

Doubtless the time will come when an enterprising historian will take 
advantage of the opportunity to honor the heroic and brave Christian men 
and women who have faithfully labored in this mission. 

Of two other universities not to allude to woidd be to leave my task 
very incomplete. I wish now to speak of Wilberforce University, at 
Xeiiia. O., and Lincoln University, Oxford, Chester county, Pa. Wilber- 
force is under the general conference of the African Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and chiefly since its organization has been presided over by the 
senior Bishop of that denomination, Rev. D. A. Payne, D. D., in the success 
of wliich his whole being has been deeply interested, and to make this in- 
stitution an honor and a pow^erful agency to the Negro of this country, 
especially that it might appear that a university could be conducted under 
the supervision of colored piofessors, and well-taught students graduated 
th-re, who need not be ashamed of their Alma Mater ; and the success 
has been highly gratifying in this respect. The classics are taught 
also algebra, arithmetic, geometry, grammar, geography, composition, 
music, <fee. While it must be admitted that it has had many head wind- 
to encounter, it has steadily been growing in interest and popularity, and 
is' wiekling a commendable influence. Professor B. F. Lee, one of its 
graduates,' has l)een president ever since the resignation of Bishop Payne- 

Lastly, I must conclude my notice of the opportunity otlered our peo- 
l)le, by various fountains of I'earning, sustained by philanthropic benevo- 
lence, by a brief description of that unrivaled school. Lincoln University. 
Having been moiv or less acquainted with its workings for the last twenty 
years. I can speak uidiesitatingly. My oldest son graduated there ; also 
two of my nephews graduated in the collegiate course and likewise in the 
theological. I have been personally acciuainted with most, if not all, of 
the professors, and have had gi-eat opportunity of becoming informed 
about them indirectly through 'many of the students and graduates, and 
:dl 1 need say. I have the very highest esteem for Ijineoln University. 

Tlic following extract of a letter from th»^ president, Kev. J. N. iien- 
dall, I). 1)., received only a few days before I left Philadelphia, will indi- 
cate precisely what ideas are held by the president and faculty with re- 
gard to educating colored students, and to my tnind the argument is 
luianswerable : 

•• Our desire and aim is to give to the colored youtli who come to lis 
every advantage in education which we oiu'sclve- p(>>sess. Whatever is 
good for oin- minds is good for them. If it qui<-kens, if it sharpens, if it 
relines, if it eidai-ges the view, they need these benetits, and have an im- 
mediate use for them. It is a great mistake to imagine that the h-aders 
in tliought and in society among the coloi-e(l j)eople only need to know a 
little of arithmetic and of the other eonnuon branch(>s. These are essen- 
tial, but they are not all. Society is to be organized ; chiu-ches are to be 



n 



APPENDIX. 65 

established and administered ; the principles of domestic economy are to 
be applied, and industry encouraged. It will not answer to make the 
foundations of tliese widest Interests narrow. These precious interests 
must be intrusted to the hands of men wliohave the advantage of a liberal 
cultui'e in the world's experience, as it is given in historj^andin scientitic 
discovery. Above all, they ouglit to be imbued witli the principles of 
Christian morality. 

"There is no special morality or gospel for colored men. They must 
have what the world has gained by its long experience, add what God has 
given in his bounty. This effort is not premature, so far as it respects 
the ability of the" colored youth to profit by it. We liave found our 
students able to learn all that we can teach. There is the same diversity 
of talent among them as in others. We say this from an experience with 
both classes. 

Xow, I ask, in conclusion, that you will compare the opportunities 
which I have presented with those of fifteen or twenty years ago, and see 
if there is no room for thankfulness and encouragement ; see if there has 
not been very decided improvement, and see if tliere is not good reason 
foi- every one of us to renew our efforts to advance education and true 
and undefiled religion ; to promote more economy, more \niion, more 
regard for morality, more willingness to seek out and extend a helping 
hand to the '■• million " who are of the most lowly and degraded. In this 
wide field, oh, what a strong and clear voice comes to us all, heed it not as 
we may : " He that reapeth receiveth the wages !*" " In the morning sow 
thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand !" " The race is 
not to tlie swift, nor tlie battle to the strong, but to them tliat endure to 
the end !'' 

I fear, my friends, that we have hardly waked up to behold what op- 
portunities and capabilities there are all aromid us, by wliieh we might 
elevate om- manhood, and forever settle the question of our equality 
before all mankind. 



E. 

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR. 

Your committee, to whom was referred the educational and labonng 
interests of the colored people of these United States, would respectfully 
submit the following : 

The wisest of men says : '' Where no counsel is, the men fall, but in the 
multitude of co\uiselors there is safety.'' Another great man has fittingly 
said: '• If we do not educate, we must perish by our own prosperity." 
Yet another of earth's most gifted sons hath eloquently declared: '' If you 
will, you can rise. No power in society, no hardship in your condition 
can depress yon, keep you dowu in knowledge, power, virtue, influence, 
but by your own consent." 

•' Do not be lulled to sleep by the flatteries which you hear, as if your 
participation in the national sovereignty made you equal to the noblest 
of your race. You have many and great deficiencies to be remedied, and 
the remedy lie-;, not in the ballot-box. not in the exercise of your political 
powers, but in the faitliful education of yourselves and your children." 

The outcome of having to depend upon others to keep your business 
accounts is thus faithfully depicted hy the iiext laconic illustration of the 
yearly settlement between the Mississippi Valley planters and the ignorant 
colored laborers. Says the planter: 

One is a one, two is a two, 

So aJl tor me anil none for vou, 



66 



APPENDIX. 



Ill view of the facts and quotations above mentioned, we, the members 
of the National Conference of Colored Men in Nashville assembled, May 
6, 1879, most respectfully, but earnestly, I'ecommend to our brethren all 
over these United States that as American citizens and as proja^ressive men 
and women, they do take for their motto : 

1','norance is the curse of God. 
Knowledge is the wing on which 
We fly to heaven. 

We further urge tliem to use their influence and suffrage at all times in 
the interest of pul)lic schools. We also urge upon them the great im- 
portance of giving theii- children a liberal education, and of using their 
influence to induce their neighbors likewise to give their children good 
educations. We also ask all our fellow-citizens, of whatever race or party, 
to join with us in developing such a healthy state of public sentiment that 
the operation of tlie school systems in many of the States maj'be so modi- 
lied tliat the public schools of said States may become moi-e general in 
munbeis and eff'ective in operation. We would also recommend to the 
various State Legislatures the adoption of compulsory systems of public 
education. 

Resolved^ That a committee of five be appointed upon conference from 
each State to memorialize tluMr i-espective Legislatures relative to this all- 
injportant question, and ask that a more efficient system of this great bul- 
wark of our freedom, happiness, rights and liberties be established. 

It i» tlie .sense of tliis Conference that separate schools are highly detri- 
mental to the interests of both races, and that such schools foster race 
prejudice, but wiiere they do exist colored teachers should be employed 
in colored schools in preference to white teachers. 

Tliis National Conference memorializes Congress to place in the haiids 
of a board of regents of "colored men the sum of $300,000, the amount of 
unclaimed bounty of the colored soldiers and sailois of the Federal army 
during the n^bellion. the same to be used in establishing and maintaining 
an Industrial and Technical School for colored youth in the unoccupie(] 
buildings at Harper's Ferry, or at some other easily accessible point. 

The NationalConference respectfully request the superintendent of 
the census to so interest his subordinates that the amount of wealth, the 
manufactures and commerce directly controlled by oiu' people, be re- 
ported separately as well as consolidated in the aggregates reported, so 
that any future action attecting the social condition of our people may be 
determined by reliable .statistical information, such as the annexed table 
of statistics, furnished b}- J. D. Kennedy, of Louisiana. 

ESTIMATED VAI^UE OF COLORED LABOR FOR THE YEAR 1S77-78. 



Commodity. 



(,"oUon, bales 

Sut'ar, lihds., e.«tim'd. 
Molasses, gal.s., do. . . . 

Rjce, tierces, do 

Tobacco, hhds 



Q,u.antity. 



4,811,265 

l,]27,7o3 

14,2;?7,2S0 

.300,()()() 

6ti0,0()U,()0l) 



Total value. 



!|!220,446,288 

13,(100,(100 

.•i,()00,(l(H) 
3a,2(MI. 00 



Proportion produced 
by colored labor. 



% equals $137,778,930 

1:?,()(IO,000 

3,(1(10,000 
3-.'i equals 23.520,000 



No estimate for fcr.iin, stcick. cattle, vetretiihles. 
Menial service.sof women and rliildren, l.OOO.OOOw $100 i)ei :iu 

Mech.micMl work, nianufactiiriuK lOO.OOOdr 500 do. 

Transportulion, .Kteamboitts, draw, etc, 20,000(a 400 do. 



!tiio(), 00(1. (too 

,10, 000,000 
8.000.000 



$177,298,930 



158,000.000 
235,298,930 



APPENDIX. 67 

That the first want of the colored laborer, whether he shall r*'main at 
the South, or shall emigrate to the West, is to become a land-holdej- to 
his own home. 

That, in view of the opportunity to obtain land by homestead from the 
United States, or purchased on easy terms from individuals in severa' of 
the Southern and Western States, the colored farmer who year after year 
contents himself with hiring his labor, without an eftort to obtain land. 
not only impedes his own material progress, but is a heavy weight upuu 
the uplifting of his race. 



F. 

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON A PERMANENT FORM OF 

ORGANIZATION. 

PREAMBLE. 

We the colored people of the United States of America, in Conference 
assembled at Nashvile, Tennessee, this Gth day of May, 1879, do declare 
the first principle of a republii\an government to be equality of its citi- 
zens bffore the law. and the obligation of the Govei-innent to pi'otect ail 
classes of citizens by its law ; that we recognize witb profound I'egret the 
existence of a race-distinction, having caste and prtjudic as its princi- 
ples, and directed toward the colored people of the countr}' with such 
force of discrimination as to nullify the Constitution and render the law 
enacted thereunder inoperative ; that the civil, political and intellectual 
advancement of our race is therebj' seriously impaired, and the life and 
propei-ty of our people are unjustly abused ; therefore, 

Be it resolved, That we do hereby form oui'selves into a national so- 
ciety, to be duly incorporated under the laws of the United States, aiui 
to be called the American Protective Society to Prevent Injustice to th*- 
Colored People. 

Section 1. The objects of the society shall be : 1 . To foster a nai ional 
union. 2. To protect civil and political rights. 3. To facilitate educa- 
tional and moral improvement. 4. To encourage the purchase of agri- 
cultural land, and the removal thereon from all States where colored 
people are unjustly treated, o. To encourage agricultural and business 
capacity. 6, To improve the sanitary relations among the colored peo- 
ple. 

Sec. 2. That this society be duly oi'ganized by a majority of the mem- 
l)ers of this conference enrolling themselves as members thereof, and 
that the said society be officered by the ofiicers-elect of this and each suc- 
cessive Annual Conference, who shall hold their respective offices foront' 
year, with power to add to their number one vice-president for each 
State in the Union ; who shall act as an executive committee for the 
whole, with power to issue certificates of authority to tiie Vice-President 
for each State to organize and establish a branoii society, under tli«' same 
name and for the same objects, in any >ifate of tbe Union— tlu're being a 
State executive connnittee of one from each congressional district ; and 
who sball have power to fill all vacancies for unexpired teriui? caused by 
death, resignation, removal from their State, or inactive service. 

Sec. ;1 That in Conference assemblcil the offiiM-rs present of tbe exec- 
utive committee shall form a (quorum foi- any act in commiitee. 

Sec. 4. 'J'he President of this society and the Vice-President of any 
State, in the absence of the executive connnittee, shall have power to 



6^ APPENDIX. 

issue a certificate for the formation of anj^ branch society, to be formed 
under the seal of tliis society. 

Sec. 5. That each branch society sliall be organized under seal and to 
the order of the Vice-President of the State wherein formed, for the ob- 
jects herein named, and governed according to the established laws of 
this society and the custouiaiy usage of tlieir State as to tlieh- respective 
oflicers, rneml)ership, and bj'-laws, and wIjo shall, in the absence of a 
national incorporation, incoi-porate mider tlie laws of tlieir respective 
States. 

Sec. G. That the society solicit the co-operation and assistance of cap- 
italists, moneyed men. and otlier benevolent societies to assist in promot- 
ing liealthy settlements of colored people in the West upon agricultural 
lands ; that each branch society shall be empowered to receive gifts or 
becjuests from any pei'sou or persons who may die within the district 
wliei-e such branch society may be located, and to collect in a legitimate 
way from any source wiiatsoever any money or aid for the advancement 
of the society and objects herein named, and, to report the same to the 
State vice-president semi-annually. 

Sec. 7. That the application of'all funds thus collected sliall be applied, 
by the State whereof it shall have been collected, for the objects herein 
named, subject to the approval of the vice-president of the State thereof, 
and subject also to an assessment of 10 ]>vv cent, upon all moneys re- 
ceived by eacl) branch society, to be paid into the treasury of the Ameri- 
can Society, and distributed by them, subject to the approval of the ex- 
ecutive connnittee thereof. 

Sec. 8. Any person shall be eligible to membersliip of tliis society who 
shall be twenty-one years of age, and who shall favor and appi'ove the 
objects of the 'said society ; and that all other existing societies having 
like purposes, and accepting the laws of this society, may be received in 
a body as brand) societies thereof. 

Sec. 9. That cacli branch society shall have the pi-ivilege of sending 
one delegate to the Annual Conference for fifty menibiM-s. and one dele- 
gate for every additional one hundred members thereof 

Sec. 10. That the executive committee of this society shall have the 
power to nominate and invite to every Ainiual Conference as many 
members thereof as will fairly and proportionately repre.-i-nt each State 
in the Union. 

Sec. 11. This society shall meet aimually in convention, at such time 
and place; as the executive committee may select, and those present at 
such meeting shall constitute a quorum — jjublic notice of the same. to be 
given in at least one newspaper of each State. 

Sec. 12. The vice-president of each State shall place a concise, written 
statement of th<' workings of ea(;h society fuimed in his State in the 
hands of the president jit least two wei'ks before the annnal meeting, 
which statement nuist show place and time of meeting, the nuinher of 
ujemhers. the number of officers, the net amoinit of money received and 
l)ai(l out, and the; piu-pose for which it was })aid out, and what, if any, 
established society has amalgamated then-willi. 

Sec. 1;5. Tlie jn-esident siiall open eai'ii Anuiud Convention of the soci- 
ety with an address, in which lie shall conununieate the most noteworthy 
events in each State which may have any bearing on the oltjects of this 
society, to make a recai)itnlation of the reports received by him of branch 
soeiefies in every State, and to advise such measures as in his judgment 
should i-eeeive the attention of tlie convenlion ; innnediately after which 
the convention sli;dl nominate and elect its otlieer- for the ensuing year. 
Tlie same pers<»n shall not l»e ejecti'il president Iwo years in succession. 



APPENDIX. 69 



BY-LA VVS.- 

1. The word State, wherever u.sed hi this constitution, shall be deeinetl 
to be equivalent to State, Territorj', and the District of ('oliimbia. 

2. Dues. — Each member shall pay 81 to the treasury as annual dues, 
and no person shall be qualified to exercise any privilege of meinbershiji 
who is in default. Such dues shall be payable and the payment thereof 
enforced as niay be provided by the by-laws. Members shall be entitled 
to receive all publications of the society free of charge. 

3. Amendments. — This constitution may be alteretl or amended by a 
vote of three-fourths of the members present at any Annual Conference; 
but no sucli chaufje shall be made at any Annual Conference at whieii 
less than thirty members are present. 

4. Reference. — Any disagreement or controversy which may arise be- 
tween any branch societies, or between any branch society and the Na- 
tional Society, shall be referred to and fully determined and settlcti by 
the executive committee of the National Society. 

The treasurer of the National Society and the treasurer of each brancli 
society must keep all moneys received by them on deposit in some bank 
or safe trust company, and furnish a bond to be approved by the respec- 
tive societies as security for the same, and all amounts paid out must be 
approved by the respective societies : 

AMERICAN PROTECTION SOCIETY, 

This is to certify that the National Conference of colored men con- 
vened at Nashville, Tenn., May 6, 1879, organized an American Pro- 
tection Society. 

The bearer 

was duly appointed vice-president according to the provision of the con- 
stitution adopted by said society, and is hereby invested with full power 
and authority to carry out the intention of said societj^ 

, President. 

■ , Secretary. 

Your committee further recommend that the president appoint the fol- 
lowing gentlemen vice-presidents of their respective States, in confor- 
mity with the said constitution : Alabama, J. T. Eapier ; Arkansas, Geo. 
M.Perkins; Georgia, W. P. Pledger; District of Columbia, J. H. S. 
Parker ; Indiana, Robert Nicholas ; Illinois, John J. Bird ; Minnesota, S. 
E.Hardy; Kansas, T. W. Henderson; Kentucky, Rev. Allen Allans- 
WQj-th ; Louisiana, James D. Kennedy; Missouri, Rev. John H..Iohnsou ; 
Pennsylvania, Wm. Still ; Mississippi, Thomas Richards(^n ; Ohio, Robt. 
Harlan ; Oregon, Rev. Daniel Jones ; South Carolina, Hon. J. H. Eainey ; 
Texas, Richard Allen ; Virginia, Robt. A. Perkins; Tennessee, J. C. 
Napier. 

All of which we respectfullj^ submit : 
J.D.Lewis, Pennsylvania; W. H. McAlpin, Alabama; J. P. Jones, 
Arkansas ; Rev. G. W. Levere, Tennessee ; J. H. Buttord, Missis- 
sippi ; J. F. C. Snoden, Kentucky; C. A. Burgos, Louisiana; W. R. 
Lawton, Missouri ; H. G. Newsom, Nebraska ; Hon. .1. H. Rainey, 
South Carolina ; S.E.Hardy, Minnesota; Rev. W. H. Anderson, 
Indiana; T. W. Henderson, Kansas ; J. II. Delamotte, Georgia ; J. II. 

5. Parker, District of Columbia ; E. H. Anderson, Texas; Rev. D. 
Jones, Oregon ; F. L. Barnett, Illinois ; Robt. Harlan, Ohio. 

The following, on nomination of their delegations, were selected as 
the State executive committee of the American Protective Society, to 
perfect the organization in their respective districts : 

Indiana— Robert Nicholas, F. D. Morton, Simon Daniels, Mr. Knox, C, 



70 



APPENDIX. 



( . Braboy. J. H. Walker, J. W. Jolinson, J. W. James, G. MoFarlaiul. 
G. H. Clay. W. H. Anderson, Bennett Stewart, S. B. Archie. 

Georgia— E. R. Belcher, R.^. Wright. Elbert Head, Horace Kinjr, C. 
C. Winibiisi). J. W. Brooks. HrTTTpsliaw, J. H. Delamotta, W. A. 
Pl«*do:er. 

Virffinia— P. J. Carter, R. G. L. Paige, R. A.Perkins, J.G.Baugh, M. 
R. De Mortie. W. P. Ryder. 

Kansas— T. W. Hengerson, W. B. Townsend, J. M. Brown. 

Alabama— 1. Rev. P. C, Murphy, Mobile. 2. H, V. Cashin. 3. Perrv 

Mathews. 4. G. S. W. Lewis, o. G. W. Braxdall. G. . 7. -. 

8. R.'v. W. H. Ashe, 

Mis^jiouri— J. W. Wil>*on. W. R. Lawton, Jas. M. Turner, Davis North. 
J. W. Hughes, Andrew Hubbard, Moses Dickson, J. J. Bruce. James 
-Matlocler. Burley Jones. C. R. Coleman, John Lang, G. W, Dupee, 



G. 

THE THEORY AXD PRACTICE OF AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY. 

By Rev, B. T. Panner. 

Christianity is the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ. American Chris- 
tianity is that phase of it found in America, meaning by America the 
United States; for it is a signiticant fact that this heterogeneous nation has 
audaciously possessed itself of tlie continental appellation. Before, how- 
ever, we address ourselves directly to the subject presented, it is in place 
to recognize tlie fact that American Christianity in many of its phases is 
largely a thing of America, therefore measureably distinct from European 
Christianity, and measurably distinct from the Christianity of Asia or of 
Africa, in so far forth as the Divine faith may be said to have taken foot- 
hold upon either of these two great divisions of the earth. A continent 
pvenrually gives individuality to the religions faith of tiie people who eat 
its bread ;ind drink its waters and regulate tlieir lives in accordance with 
it.-« political and social institutions. Therefore is it perfectly legitimate to 
speak of a continental Christianity; or, as in the case in hand, of Amer- 
ican Christianity as contradistinguished from the Christianity of the other 
continents, perfectly legitimate to inquire as to its theory and practice. 
The (juestion, therefore, in place to ask is: Wiiat has been the pliase of 
individuality given the American tlieory of Cliristianity by the agencies, 
piiysical. political and social, lecognized above; and to what extent have 
they affected its practice? 

The theory of American Chiistianity, what is it? 

At this moment we deem it in i)lace to say that the theory of Christi- 
anity in general is one thing, tiie theory of the muUipiifid forms of ecclesi- 
asticism, or wliat migiit bi; called churchianity, is quite another. Christi- 
anity is of (iod, ecclesiasticism is of men; tliis of earth, that of heaven, 
Christianity draws on oiu- faitli; ecclesiasticism on our judgment; this suf- 
fers chanj^e, that endures forever. 

And yet notliing u more common than to hear men speaking of them 
a-, one and the same. We are quite ready to confess that they should be 
one and the same, at least mankind thinks so; quite ready to confess that 
the followers of each of the various systems claim that they are. But in 
view of the fact that tliese systems vary greatly from each other, it is 
very certain that each of them cannot be the exact counterpart of Chris- 



APPENDIX. 7] 

tianity uiilegs wp, credit it with (iianidi'dn-like properties. Nothing (.in 
be truer tliau tlie axiom: If tlit» Koiiiuu tliroiyof ecclesiasticism be Ciiris- 
tianity, (hen the Greek theory and the J'rotestant theor}' cannot be 
accepted as Cln-istianity, but only a.s approae-hes to it. And so of each and 
all the syst(!ms which are equally the gloi y and shame of Christendom. If 
one of these systems be exactly true, th(^ others, to the extent that they 
differ, arc exactly false. But we comfort onrselves with the fact, as we 
have said, ecclesiasticism — Roman, Greek or Protestant — is one theorj"^; 
Christianity is another; and so of their respective theories. That we may 
the more readily comprehend the theory of Ciu-istianiry let us for a mo- 
ment look at those forms of ecclesiasticism which govern Christendom, 
for it should be remembered that the agencies heretofore recognized are 
even more prolific in producing the one than in giving individuality to the 
other. 

As we have intimated, Christendom may be said to have three leading 
ecclesiastical theories. 

The tirst of them is, possibl}'. the Roman theory. We say possibly, for 
we 1 1 refer not to touch the question of priority as respectively urged by 
the Latins of the West and tin; Greeks of the East. But it could not be 
expected that Ave should present here the hundred and one shades of be- 
lief which go to make up this theory, a theorj^ which claims to be the 
exact and only counterpart of Chistianity. It is sufficient to say that it is 
"roundly autocratic; that it finds tlie Word of God, not only in the written 
word, as received by the ancient Christians and the more ancient Jews, 
but supplemented by tiie apocryplial books, lifted by tlie Tridentine 
eoimcil to the level of the canonical. These, with the traditions of the 
early Church, and the decisions of the councils as held from time to time, 
constitute the sources of its authority. That, however, which destin- 
guislies this theory of Roman ecclesiasticism from the ecclesiasticisms of 
the world is the I'ecognition of the Bishop of Rome as Christ's vicegei'ent, 
and consequently clothed with the largest possible plenii^otentiary powers. 

Quite similar to the theory of the Latins is the theory of the Greeks ; 
so similar indeed, that to characterize it, it is only necessary to sliow 
wherein it differs from the Roman or the Latin. All that Rome accepts 
in the shape of scriptures and traditions, rites and ceremonies, with the 
Apocrypha and slight differences in the service, Constantinople — the 
recognized head of Greek ecclesiasticism — accepts, rejecting only tiie 
claims of the Pope to universal primacy. This they stoutly deny, and 
when called upon to submit, cm-iously enough make answer in the words 
of the great Gregory, (himself one of t^'e popes,) that the title of " imi- 
versal bisliop, by whomsoever assumed, is profane, anti-Chi-istian and 
infernal.'' 

Tlie third and last of the ecclesiastical theories is Protestantism. 

Whatever else Protestantism may or may not be, it certainly is not what 
the Pontiff, the venerable Leo XIII declares it to be. Says he, in his 
famous Euc3'clical of 18th December, 1878': "• You, reverend brethren, 
vei-y well know tliat the object of the war which e\er since the sixteentli 
centary lias been waged by the innovators against the (Catholic faith, and 
which has (^very day increased in intensity down to the present time, has 
been that, by the setting aside of all revelation and the subversion of 
every kind of supernatni-al order, an entrance might be cleared for the 
discoveries, or rathei", the delirious imaginations of mere reason." 

With due def(*rence to the saintly character of the Pontiff, it is only 
necessary to saj- that, as a Romnu is justly supposed to know more of the 
Roman theory of ecclesiasticism than anj^ one else, and the Greek of the 
Greek theory, even so ought Protestants to be credited with a more exact 
knowledge of the theory they accept than any one else. Protestantism, 
as its name indicates, is indeed a protest against what its eai'ly founders 



72 APPENDIX. 

rr<;arded as abuses in the two theories named above. But wliile it is 
thus largely negative, there is a still larger vein of the positive in it, in 
tliat it exalts the written word of God to a supremacjMiever befoi'e given. 
The Protestant tlieory of ecclesiasticisni may be defined as the theory 
that accepts the Bible as the one rule, and the only authoritative rule for 
life and practice. Wliat it commands is to be done ; what it forbids is to 
be let alone. 

We iiave given here, briefly, the theories of the three leading ecclesi- 
astical organizations of the world — theories, as we have said, largely dis- 
tinct from the theory of Christianity. And j^et, according to the world's 
iistis loqueiidi, thej^ are often regarded as one and the same, while there 
is the very gravest necessity for recognizing the distinction. Failing 
tliereiii, wliite men in Europe have voted, in so far a« they were able, 
t»oth (Hit of existence. Failing therein, both white men and black men 
in America, while they have not gone to the mad length of those in Eu- 
rope, have stumbled as upon a rock. Referring to this sad subject as it 
relates to white men, the Independent, {N. F.,) has said : 

"Among all the earnest-minded young men who are at this moment 
leaiMng in thought and action in America, we venture to say that four- 
tiftlis are skeptical of the great histoiic facts of Christianity. What is 
tauglit as Cliristian doctrine by tlie churches claims none of their con- 
sideration, and there is among tliem a general distrust of the clei'gy as a 
class and an utter disgust with the very aspect of modern Christianity 
and of church worship." 

Referring to this subject as it relates to black men. Bishop Payne 
writes : 

"Rev. B. T. Tanner: 

'' Bear Doctor: In answer to your ((uery as to my personal knowledge 
of the eftVct of American caste upon the most thouglitful of our i-ace, 
time will onlj' allow^ me to mention two examples : Mr. R. F., one of the 
most gifted young men of the city of P., born and reared in it — born 
and reared in the bosom of tlie P. E. Church, had prepared himself for 
confirmation. But within a week or ten days of the Sabbatli when that 
rite was to be performed by Bishop Onderdonk, he (tlie Bishop) made a 
speech in favor of African colonization, in which lie uttered sentiments 
so adverse to the intei-ests of the colored American that Mr. R. F. said : 
' No sucli bishop will I allow to put his hands on my head.' Then he 
gradually drifted into such bitterness against the 'church ' that he subse- 
quently said to me, 'I will just as soon go to a brotiiel to be taught mor- 
alitj' as to go to any one of your churches.' 

''Anotlier member of the same family, who, like lier gifted brother, was 
born and reared in the bosom of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and 
livefl in it till she was the mother of a half dozen ciiildren, in reply to my 
cxiiortations for self-consecjration to Christ, said to me : ' Show me tlie 
black man's God, and I will serve; him ; lie is not the black man's God, 
lie is the white man's God.' 

"Tliis lady belonged, like her brother, not to the ignorant classes of col- 
ored people, but to the highly intelligent and wealtliy class. ISlie was in- 
dependent in her circumstances; kept her servants and a white governess 
ill her homestead. 

'-Frattiiiidly. D. A. Payne." 

in wliat consists the mistake of these chivalrous souls? Verily it is 
that thej'^ failed to n!Cognize the fact that churchianity is a thing as dis- 
tinct from (Christianity as the servant is from the master, as tlu; clrj' tree 
is from the tree that is gretm, as the light of tlie moon is from the light of 
the sun, as man is from God. 

We have seen the theories of the church, let us see what is the theory 
of Christianity, especially the theory of American Christianitj'. 



APPENDIX. 73 

And here we dare not touch upon any disputed dogmas ; for the moment 
dispute occurs, necessity for belief ceases, and the matter passes over from 
the reahn of Christianity to the realm of ecclesiastieisui. In the Chris- 
tian realm men see eye "to eye : ''Tliy watchmen shall lift up the voice; 
with the voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye when 
the Lord shall bring again Zion.'' 

What is the theory of Christianity, that theoiy in regard to which men, 
indeed, see eye to eye, and because they do, gives us tiie plain guarantee 
of its divinity? Brief, indeed, is this divine theory ; so brief tiiat it may 
be given in less tlian a dozen words. It is witli the sequence wliicli logi- 
cally follows — God your Father, Christ your Saviour, Man your Brother. 
More than this is ecclesiasticism ; nothing less than this is Clu-istianity. 
Herein is that theory about which there is not, as there nuist not be, any 
contradiction. With it upon tlreir lips, the Latins and the Greeks, witli 
upturned eyes, repeat together the glorious "Pater Noster;"' witli it 
upon their lips both Greek and Latin cry out : " All hail, Luther ! All 
hail, Calvin !'' 

How eminently worthy Is such a theory as this to be called Christian, 
after the glorious Christ. Until the Christ revealed it the world was all 
astray. None could tell the relation man bore to the God whom even 
the heathen recognized; none could tell the relation man bore to his 
neighbor. ISTor was any found to point unerringly to a Saviour sufficiently 
potent to take away tlie sin of the world. But the Christ broke tlie silence 
of the ages, and symphonies of music were heard all around. The Cln-ist 
dispelled the clouds and floods of light poured down from the upper i-ealm. 
The problem was solved— the enigma niade plain. God is Fattier, Jesus 
is Saviour, man is brother. In this consists the soul, body and divinity 
of the theory of Christianity in general, and of American Cin-istianitj' in 
particular; for it is to be asserted without fear of contradiction, tiiat in 
no portion of Ciiristendom has louder and longer pagans of praise been 
sung to tliis revelation than in America. And so great has been the in- 
fluence of the agencies recognized, we might say that God as Father, 
Christ as Saviour and man as brother are the veiy bulwarks of our Ameri- 
can theory of religion. Upon these have been builded that spiritual tem- 
tle which to-day is the glory of the Republic. 

Leaving this, therefore, we approach the subject of tlie Pi'actice of 
American Christianity, and we could but wish its treatment atlbrded the 
same high pressure as did the treatment of its theory. But alas, alas, a 
defection, as it relates to the four millions of Africo-Americans in the 
land, greater than that the world ever before witnessed, with brazen eyes, 
is seen to stare truth in the face, and with a spirit akin to that of the Ma- 
lachian age, asks: "Wherein have we despised Thy name? AVlierein 
have we polluted Thee?" 

The tameness with which we spoke of the nation's enthusiasm for that 
theory of Christianity which presents not only God to us as Father and 
Christ as Saviour, but man especially as brother, was doubtless obsiu-va- 
ble; and yet abundant room was given us for exhibiting what the bohem- 
ians of to-day call "gush," but we did not. We failed to enter into par- 
ticulars ; failed to tell how the fathers engrafted it into the very Con- 
stitution itself ; aye, made it the corner-stone of the political structui-e 
they built; failed to tell how it was the inspiration of tlie days that tried 
men's souls; failed to tell how our poets have so attuned their Iiarps to 
its music that it is tlie one key recognized by the world. Especially did 
we fail to tell liow the agencies of the continent, physical, political and 
social, ministered to it, as did the angels minister to him who was tempted 
in the wilderness. But in the practice of all this they have fallen infin- 
itely lower than has man ever fallen from so high and glorious an ideal ; 
lower than did the Jews fall in the wilderness ; lower than they fell in 



74 APPENDIX. 

tlio (la.v? of tlip jn(lc;ps. an^l lower tlian tliey fell in the days of their last 
prophet. Ciicmncision has been neglecterl, even the circumcision of the 
heart. Human sacrifice has been practiced — the human sacrifice of 
slavery — while God, who cast jewels of truth to the nation, lias been 
turned upon and not rent, (for divinity is insecable,) but impudently 
questioned. 

'I'lie practice of American Christianity, what has it beeij in the past? 
What is it in the present? As we approach the subject, aptly may we 
quote Scripture, '' How art thou fallen from heaven O Lucifer, son of 
the mornino: ! How art thou cast down to the ground, whicli didst weaken 
the nation I" 

The practice of American Christlanitj% politicall}' and ecclesiasticallj^ 
has been, and morally is, sucli as to make the world hold up its hands in 
horror. Politically, how have they f rame.d raiscliief by a law ecclesiastic- 
ally? How have tliey gone witii the multitude to do evil? 

Wo. speak of the practice of .American Christianity politically. What 
Avas it? Let the slave enactments of the several State Legislatures show. 
In Ids work, "Sketch of the Laws Relating to Slavery," Judge Stroud 
lays down twelve propositions, in which is seen the burden of the out- 
rage imposed upon the Christian bondmen of America by the Christian 
slaveholders of America. They are as follows : 

Proposition 1. The master may determine the kind and degree, and 
time of labor to which the slave sliall be subjected. 

Proposition 9. The master may supply the slave with such fooil and 
clothing only, both as to quantity and quality, as he may think proper. 

Proposition 3. The master may, at his discretion, inflict any punish- 
ment upon the person of his slave. 

Propo-iition 4. All the power of the master over hfs slave may be exer- 
cised, not by himself only in person, but by any one whom he may dele- 
gate as his agent. 

Proposition 5. Slaves have no legal right of property or things, real or 
personal ; but whatever they may acquire belongs in point of law to their 
masters. 

Proposition fi. The slave, being a personal chattel, is at all times liable 
to be sold absolutely, or mortgaged or leased, at the will of his master. 

Proposition 7. He may also be sold by process of law for the satisfac- 
tion of the debts of a living, or the debts and bequests of a deceased, mas- 
ter, at the suit of creditors or legatees. 

Proiwsition 8. A slave cannot be a party before a judicial tribunal in 
any species of action against his master, no matter how atrocious may 
have been the injury received from him. 

Proposition 9. Slaves cannot redeem themselves nor obtain a change 
of masters, thougli cruel treatment may have rendered such a change 
necessary for their personal safety. 

Proposition 10. Slaves being objects of property, if usurped bj' third 
persons, their owners may bring suit and recover damages for the injury. 

Proposition 11. Slaves can make no contracts. 

Proposition 12. Slavery is Jiereditary and perpetual. 

Wlien it is remiMubered that Judge Stroud builds these propositions 
upo*n foinidati<iiis of laws as tliey existed in the Southern States of a))fe- 
hellnm days, tie' t"rribleiiess of this practice of American (Christians will 
be maile to appe;ir. We could almost wish for time to refer to these en- 
actments themselves, but owing to the ground that it would he neeea- 
.sary for us to travel over, it is impossible. Sutlleient is it to say that in 
the certification of his dozen propositions, instead of |>ainting too deeply 
the facts, as might rationally I)e supposed from I he (larkness of the pic- 
ture presented, the .Iiidge may jusllj' be c''ai-ged with a somewhat nn- 
scrly use of his abundant materials. 



APPKNDIX. 75 

As stated above, these propositions rest upon the aetion of the States 
in their semi-sovereign eapacit}\ Bnl let ns glance at the action of the 
States as a whole in the capacity of their full nationalitj'. What has been 
the practice of the nation? In the Constitution, section 2, article t, we 
find these words : 

'• Xo person held to service or labor in one State, under the law thereof, 
escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation 
therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but sliall be delivered 
up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due." 

Accordhig to tlie decision of the Supreme Court, this constitutional pro- 
vision is only to be exercised by the Federal Government In the exercise 
of that unhappy interrogative. Congress, in the year 1793 and in the year 
1850, ordered the rendition of bondmen wlio had the pluck and fortune 
to escape from the slave States into the States nominally free. Of the 
inhumanity, to say nothing of the non-Clu-istianity of the act of 1793, the 
men of this generation know nothing, save as they may glean from the 
provisions of the act itself, and from cotemporaneous history. ISTot so , 
however, with the act of 1850 ; for of its unnatural, unchristian and un- 
godly provisions, the men of to-day know only too much. Concei-ning 
tliese provisions we will be personally silent, confessing to what Scripture 
says, without, of course, appropriating to o\irself the wisdom : "Surely 
oppression maketh the wise man mad."— Eecles.. vii, 7. 

The just Judge, however, whom we have had occasion already to men- 
tion, referring to the shameful fact that both these acts (^f Congress in- 
trusted the awful power of rendition into slavery to the judgment of a 
single person, and utterly regardless, too, of his capacity, moral or other- 
wise, says : 

'•But the strong objection to the tribunal is that a question aftecting 
human liberty, not for a day or year, but for a life time, is committed to 
one person, and that person chosen by the very men who would take 
away the inestimable gift of the Great Author of our being." 

There will be found tliose ready to say that such proceedings as we 
have been describing were the work of men who can only be called Chris- 
tians in the most far-fetched sense. We would only be too glad to recog- 
nize the strength of the point taken, were there any weight in it, but no 
feather was ever more imponderable. Is it not a fact that not a few of 
them stood high in the church, and prided themselves on being called rev- 
erend? And, lastly, is it not a fact that when these very enactments 
were not officially indorsed by the leading church organization of tlie 
country, they were passed over in sphinx-like silencf;, and the man of 
tiieir number who dare lift up his voice aginst the great iniquity was pro- 
nounced an innovator, a disturber of the peace ; aye, in the majority of 
cases he was pronounced an inlidel. 

We could wish that some pen would do for the churches of the country 
what Judge Stroud has done for the State Legislatures and for Congress, 
put them on record. Not for purposes of revenge would we have this 
done, but rather as a warning to future generations. Wherefore does 
God, in his Word, record the defection of his people, individually and 
collectively, but that his people in all af t. r time might be warned? Even 
so would we have recorded the defection of the American church and peo- 
ple from the high Christian ideal marked out in the Divine Word, and 
which they profess to embrace in all its height, depth, length and 
breadth, embrace even with enthusiasm. Especially would we have thia 
done for the additional reason that they have never repented of their past 
recognition of and affiliation with slaveholders ; at least, they have never 
repented in the eyes of men, and are still largely, both in the Xorth and 
in the South, in the practice of the slave-holding spirit. 

But what have we to say directly upon the practice of American Chns- 



76 APPENDIX. 

tianity, by professed Christians? In answer to the query, let us gwe the 
aetioii of a few of the Icadinj^ church bodies. We begin with the Friends 
or Quakers. These pride tiiemselves and are prided upon in the record 
tliey present. Wlien compared with the record of others, they possibly 
have occasion to congratuhite themselves, as has undoubtedly tl)e man 
witli one eye occasion to congratuhite himself upon his seeing capacity, 
wlien he Hnds himself numbered with men liaving no eyes. And yet 
even in regard to the Quakers, we can hear the great Evangel of time 
say: ''Nevertheless I have found somewhat against thee." What is it? 
Let liistory tell, and in its own words. We quote from "Stroud's History 
and Genealogy of tlie French Colony :" 

'■' A short time after Francis Daniel Pastorious arrived in Pennsylvania 
he became a meniber of the Society of Friends. He married about that 
time Anna, the daughter of Dr. Klosterman, of Muhlheim. He was one 
of the lirst who had any misgivings about the institution of slavery, and 
in 1688 he wrote a memorial against slave-holding, which was submitted 
to the meeting of Germantown Friends, and by them approved of, and 
Pastorious was appointed to lay the memorial before the yearly meeting 
held in Philadelphia the same year. It was the tirst protest against 
Negro slavery submitted to a religious society in the world. Whittier, 
the poet, who had an opportunity of seeing the original manuscript, says 
it was a bold and direct appeal to the human heart. The memorial foinid 
but little favor witli the yearly meeting, and it was said that Pastorious 
returned to his home at Germantown with sadness depicted on his coiui- 
te nance."' 

Westcott, the historian, says the tirst person who wrote a book show- 
ing the evils of slavery was Ralph Sandeford, a young merchant on Mar- 
ket street, Philadelphia. He had resided for some time in one of the 
West India islands, and had witnessed the cruelties inflicted upon his 
fellow-man, and in the year 1728 his book was published, showing the 
evils of the system, and for so doing he was disowned by the Society of 
Friends. 

Upon this action of the Quakers we have only to say, when it is remem- 
bered that precedents are portentous either for weal or woe, it assumes 
gigantic i)roportions. A ditterent action at such an early period, followed 
up with that audacity which Christian faith inspires, as reckless as the 
assertion may seem, might have saved the nation from centuries of guilt 
and suffering. 

Fi-om the Quakers we tm-n to the Baptists, concerning wOiom it is only 
necessary to make a single historical quotation. Says Daniel Benedict in 
his "General History of the Baptist Denomination in America," 1813, 
vol. 2, page — : 

'•The Baptists are by no means uniform in their opinion of slavery. 
Many let it alone altogether ; some remonstrate against it in gentle 
terms ; otheivs ojjpose it vehemently ; while far the greater part of them 
liold slaves, and justify themselves the best way they can." 

I-'roni the Hajjtists we come to the Presbyterians. We mention the action 
(if two nicmliers of the great Presbyterian family ; the one with possibly 
the cleanest record ; the other with the same regard to that, that is possibly 
the worst. In 1832 the united Presbyteiies in the western synod passed 
the following resolution : "That the religion of our Lord Jesus Christ 
(^alls upon nil Clii-istians to renounce the evil (slavery) as soon as it can be 
done without worse consequences to society and the slaves thems(dves." 
dust as if cillier society or the slaves themselves eoidd suffer worse con- 
seiiuences. Hut how they improved on this empty statement, let Mr. L. 
Boyd (Springlield, Oiiio,) tell us : 

" We were present," says he, " at the meeting of the general synod of 
the West, held at New Concord, Ohio, in is|l, and remained during all 



r''* 



. APPENDIX. 77 

their sessions, and had an inhabitant of another planet, or a person from 
a distant part of our own o-iobe been there, and heard all their delibera- 
tions as I did, he could not have known, either from their praj^ers, s(^r- 
mons, or any discussions on the floor of the synod, that human slavery 
existed in the country.'" 

Of the Old School Presbyterians it is sufficient to say that in the gen- 
eral assembly of 1845 they passed a resolution that " slaveholding as it 
exists in the United States is no bar to Christian fellowship.'" 

Passing over the practice of Koman Catliolics and Protestant Episco- 
palian Christians, whose icy conservatism is well known, we conclude 
witii the Methodist Episcopal Church South and the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. 

When we say that the churchmen of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
South believed in slavery and Xegro suboi'dination, and followed up 
that belief with a consistency absolutely admirable, in that seven hundred 
of them absolutely laid down their lives for it in the late warbetweeji the 
States, we can with mutual satisfaction say "good day."' 

Had the Christians of the Methodist Episcopal Church followed up their 
belief with the consistency of their Soiithern brethren, then indeed would 
we have had presented the most beautiful picture of the age. But, alas, 
with steps growing weaker day by day they ])ursued the tenor of their 
way, and thereby justify the remark of a historian : " The Methodists in 
some places set out on this principle : their ministers preached against 
slavery; many set them at liberty ; but I believe at present (181:5) their 
scruples are nearly laid aside."" 

Admire the certain sound of 1784 : 

'• Question 12. What shall we do with our friends that icill buy and sell 
slaves ? Answer. If they buy with no other design than to hold them as 
slaves, and have been previously warned, they shall be expelled and pei-- 
mitted to sell on no consideration." 

But mark tiie change twelve years wrought : "And if any member of 
our society purchase a slave, the ensuing quarterlj'' meeting shall deter- 
mine on the number of years in which the slave so purchased shall work 
out the price of his freedom." 

The sound of 1824 is completelj' changed, and slaveholding is recog- 
nized in tlie church of Wesley, Avho pronounced slaver^^ " the sum of all 
villainies." 

"Our preachers," says the general conference of 1824, "shall pru- 
dently enforce upon our members the necessity of teaching their slaves 
to read the word of God, and to allow them time to attend upon the pub- 
lic worship of God on our regular days of divine service." 

But perfectly distressing to the ear is the sound sent out by the Meth- 
odist conference, annual and general, in the j^ears that followed.. 

Take the following, for instance, as passed by the general conference 
of 1840, in the city of Baltimore. It was offered by the Kev. A. G. Ferr, 
of Georgia : " Resoloed, That it is inexpedient and unjustifiable for any 
preacher to permit colored persons to give testimony against wliite per- 
sons in any State where they are denied that privilege by law.'" 

The Ohio annual conference, after they indorsed the above, passed the 
following : " Resolved, That those brethren of the Xortli who resist the 
abolition movements with firmness and moderation are the true friends 
of the church, the slaves of the South, and to the Constitution of our 
common country." 

Xew York, following in the wake, passed the following : "Fii-st. That 
this conference fully concur in the advice of the late general conference 
(1840) as expressed in their pastoric address. Second. That we disapprove 
of the members of this conference patronizing, or in any way giying 
countenance to, a paper called Ziorvs Waickman, because, in our opmion, 



Vft APPENDIX. 

it tends to (Vistiirb the peace and harmony of the body by so-wing dissen- 
sion in tiic chnrcli." 

But it may be argued that this gradual defection of the Metliodist Epis- 
copal Chnrcli from the truth was owing to its connection with the South. 
It would be unjust not to recognize some force in these remarlis. Ex- 
actly how much, however, may be seen when we inquire as to their action 
after the great session of 1844. 

Notwithstanding the rule of 1784 liad long been inoperative, yet was it 
allowed to recur in the Book of Discipline. But, in 1860, sixteen years 
after their severance from the South, in that darkness which immediately 
proceeded the light, tlie law of 1784 declaring slave-holding sufficient 
cause for expulsion, was made to give way to the following harmless ex- 
pression of opinion : " We believe that the bu3ing or selling of human 
beings to be used as chattels is contrary to the laws of God and nature, 
and inconsistent with the Golden Rule and with the rule of onr discipline, 
whicli reqnires us ' to do no liarm,' and ' to avoid evil of ever^v kind.' We 
tlierefore aftectionatelj' admonish all our preachers and people to keep 
themselves pure from this great evil, and to seek its extirpation by all 
lawful and Christian means." 

So much for the Practice of American Christianity in the past. But 
what of its practice in the present ? 

We confess tliat this is by far the greater question of the two The 
gauge of man's conduct tiiat tells is not the gauge of yesterday, but of 
to-day. AVith this measurinjj-rod in hand let us proceed to measure tiie 
present practice of American Christians. Already do we hear expres- 
sions of deepe-t satisfaction at the suppressed symmetr}^ and beauty 
presented. And we admit that to the superficial eye there is occasion 
for satisfaction. What is more beautiful than the action, say, of the 
bishops of the "Methodist Episcopal Churcli South laying their holy hands 
on the lieads of then- late bondsmen and exalting them to the lofty 
work, not of the ministry in general, but that of the Episcopacy itself ; 
nor stopping here, but preparing for them a most excellent discipline, 
and pnblishing and editing for them a most creditable paper ? 

And so likewise tiie Southern Presbyterian Chinch. Wiiat right is 
more delectable to the average vision than seeing t'lfm hay olf a Pres- 
bytery for their colored brethren, and give it the sanction and influence 
of their great names ? Remembering that these are the days of 
Southern men and Southern territory, we are, ready to grant them a 
phase of beauty most attractive to a phase of vision not uncommon to hu- 
man eye. But if these be satisfying, how infinitely more so is the prac- 
tice of the Christians of the North, especially such Christians as operate 
with the American Missionary Association, and the Methodist Episcopal 
(Jhureh; nor will we be invidious in distinction, but say of all the Chris- 
tian denominations of the mighty Nortii, Protestant and (^atholic : How 
grand is tlie work of the .\merican Missionary Association ! How Chris- 
tian is its practice I Behold the schools and the churches it sustains in 
the land of the fieedmen. Its last report presents the following sta- 
tistics : 

Mi'^sionaries at the South, 69. Teachers at the South, 150. Churches 
at tlie South, 64. ("IiiutIi member'* at tlie South. 4,180. Total numberof 
Sahbuth-seliool scholars, 7.43(;. Schools at the South, 37. Pupils at the 
South, 7.'220. 

Quite similar is the doing of tlie M(>thodist Episcopal Church, as the fol- 
lowi;.g summation of its work shows : 

Ch'i!-tere(l institutions. ;"). 'I'heoiogical schools, 3. Medical colleges, 2. 
Insti;utions not cliarted. lo. 

Ill tliese institutions tlie numtter of pupils taugiit during the year is 
classified an follows : Biblieul, 400; law. 2;"); medical, 30 ; collegiate, 76 ; 



APPENDI3C. 19 

acaclemic, 275 ; normal, 1,000 ; intermediate, 510 ; priinaiy, 005. Total, 
2,940. 

But sad to tell, there is a fly in all tlie precious ointment of Aiiu-rican 
Christians, the fly of caste. There is a fly in the matter of tiiat Soutliern 
ordination ; for why leave out these faithful children of the church, and 
tell them henceforth, act for yourself? There is a fly in the matter of col- 
ored Presbyteries, for why draw the line at all? There is, in sliort, a fly 
in all the Godlike Christians of the ^vent North, in that they are en- 
deavoring to keep up the middle wall of the partition between the two 
classes, if not at the South, certainly at the North. All throuj^h the South, 
as at the North, the great M, E. Church says to her black children, ''go 
there," and to lier white children, " come here." Separate scliools, sep- 
arate churches, and separate conferences is the order the day. And as 
with this great church to-day, so with the other churclies of the land. 
Everywhere in the North and in the South caste prevails, dittering only 
in degree ; the churchmen of the North reprimanding the chuichmcm 
of the South. You can ostracise the Negro to the extent of keeping him 
out of your parlor, but don't kill him, especially don't keep him from vot- 
ing the Republican t cket. And where is the diflerenee between this 
reprimand and tlie reprimand an intemperate father gives to his sons? 
''My son," said he, "you can drink two glasses of rum, but don't drink 
three.'" The spirit that practices moral ostracism upon a man solely on 
account of his color, is twin to the spirit that practices political ostracism 
for the same reason. 

To the colored American both are equally hateful and hated. He wars 
upon both, having vowtsd a vow like to that of Hannibal of old, that he 
will never sheathe his sword till both lie bleeding and dead at Ins feet. 
Nor has he any respect for the men that practice either. It is a trial to 
him that he must at times listen to their soft talk. His soul rankles to 
say, "they are a trouble unto me ; I am weary to bear them." 

And yet, brethren, the morning cometh. Caste is doomed, its deatli is 
simply a question of time. The CVia/i^ of slavery is already dead. The 
Eng of caste must follow. America will not fail of her destiny. Her 
theory of Christianity is to be her practice. Called of God to solve the 
highest political and social problem, its perpetuity is assured till the 
work has been done, to the furtherance of which I invoke tlie blessing of 
Almighty God. 



H. 

THE NECESSITY OF INDUSTRIAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCA- 
TION FOR OUR YOLTH. 

By J. W. Cromwei^l. 

There are two classes of reasons upon which tlie necessity for industrial 
education for the colored youth of this country is based; first, those which 
apply to all youth because of the necessities and requirements of the age; 
second, those which gx'ow out of certain arbitrary social regulations which 
are stronger than municipal law. 

The last census of the United States showed that there iiad been a large 
movement of population fi'om the country to tlte larger towns and ciiics, 
North as well as South. Whole families, whose previous occupations have 
been rural and agricultural in tlieir character, are brought tosiru^gle 
for existence in tlie sharp competition of city life. A» a eoiieequonce, 



80 APPENDIX. 

liundreds and tliousands of unskilled laborers are thrown upon a market 
wherein skilled labor is most in demand. There could be but one result 
from this — a reduction in the price of labor, and a decrease of its pur- 
chasino- power. 

Such a condition of affairs did not end here. Low wages gave way to 
none. Starvation and want followed closely in its train. Crime brand- 
islied her weapons of blood. Disease and premature death lingered near. 

Ordinarily these results, in a time of general prosperity, would have 
arrested tlie attention of the close and observing student; but in a time of 
general depression, such as that whicii has cliaracterized tlie last six years, 
these results are intensified to an alarming degree. The instinct of self- 
preservation endeavors to assert itself, hence we have outbreaks, strikes, 
labor riots, and subsequently socialistic organizations threatening the 
riglits of private property, gangs of predatory individuals on every public 
highway and in every city, at least of the Northern and Middle States, 
begging for bread, but not willing to work. However much such an 
abnormal condition of society might excite our commiseration, its pro- 
posed attack on our right of property causes us at once to take up the 
defensive. In legislative halls, in social science conventions, in the peri- 
odicals of the day, remedies ai-e demanded, and they are as readil}' pro- 
posed. 

1. Tliere are those who say that in restrictive legislation the ren)edy 
lies. 

Some States have resorted to this method of stamping out the tramp by 
the sevei-e discipline of the work-house. The success of this plan has not 
been assured, and even if it were practicable, it would be well to pause 
before adopting a plan whicli only implies an increased burden of taxa- 
tion before which tiie national debt would pale in insignificance. Again, 
this remedy cannot be an effective one, because the terrors of line and 
imprisonment will not appease the pangs of hunger, aff'ord shelter from 
tht' inclemency of the weather, or cover the body with raiment. These 
are the demands which primarily send forth thousands into the world, 
eventually to swell the ranks of those who defy law and authority, and 
disregard public aiul j>rivate i-ights. The remedy which the law gives 
does not satisfy these demands, and therefore is inadequate. 

2. 'J'he policy of colonization from the large cities to the public domain 
has been urged with a great deal of persistency by a few, who believe the 
remedy lies throngii a redisti-ibution of population. A lai-ge outflow from 
the cities to till tlie soil would undoubtedly beget habits of industry and 
a regard for individual rights which do not now obtain among the dan- 
gerous classes of society. 

It is true that tlie eflect upon labor of such a policy would at once be 
seen in the increased prosperity of those who, remaining in ttiecity, could 
obtain better food, live in better houses, and tiiereby prevent mortality 
rates from presenting the ghastly spectacle of a continual epidemic; but 
so rooted to city life iiave tl)ese people become that, let the inducements 
be never so flattering, tlie jjroportion of those who \\oidd accept the 
opportunitii's lit'ld out would comparatively be so small that the general 
f-ouditions of the problem still renuiin. Given a city population which 
increases in larger proportion tiian the deniaudsof trade and commerce 
for employment, what must be done, not only in tlie interest of prosper- 
ity, but to preserve society itself from the destructive inroads of socialism? 
'I'liis is tlie overshadowing question of the liour. Restrictive laws have 
lieen proven in;idei]nate. and the dangerous classes will not voluntarily 
give up city life. \VliaI. tlieu, remains to be done? 

J. ''Educate, educate,'' is the cry. Well, the fact is, in those sections 
of our common country wherein education has been made as free as the 
air we breatiie, do we Hud this army of unemployed persons largest, and 



APPENDIX. 81 

the most facile victims of demagogisui unci most eager to drink in the 
pernicious doctrines to wliich we have refcn-ed. 

ft may be well to note that it is in tlic kind, not the quantity, of edu- 
cation that the proper and eft'ective rcnu'ily lies. It goes without saying 
that if an advertisement for a book-keeper, teacher, or clerk, were in- 
serted in the columns of our daily papers, the responses would be far 
more numerous than if inquiry be made for a skilled architect, a draughts- 
man, a civil engineer, or a proticient chemist; and yet, tliough the latter 
when found manifest no preference for the former occupations, in a ma- 
jority of cases, it would be found tliat he was equally as competent to 
teach or to keep accounts as a large number of so-called professional men. 
But by industrial or technieal education, undertaken by Government, as 
in European cities — the education which trains the hand and the eye, 
which gives instruction in all those sciences upon which all tlie ditterent 
processes of manufacture depend, and upon which the development of 
the natural resources of the eartli is based, the education which enters 
into tiie realm of art itself — the future man will be fully equipped to grap- 
ple with those conditions of modern life wiiich reiiuire a higlier skill and 
an unending variety of resource, as application after application of sci- 
ence apparently narrows the tield in wliich manual and direct individual 
labor is emplo.ved. 

There is no doubt that the advent of machinery, as a force in the activ- 
ities of life, has wrought a revolution in the labor systems of the past ; but 
had man's eyes and hands — better still, had liis artistic sense — kept pace 
with this force, there would be no permanent derangement, but constant 
and continual readjustment of labor forces would solve the problem. 

That in this establishment and maintenance of technical schools, the 
proper and eft'ective remedy for the evils resulting from the rush of un- 
skilled labor to the centers of population is found, is fully illusti'ated in 
the rapid increase of such schools in our country, and the favorable re- 
sults of their establishment. 

In 1S70 there were 17 such schools, with 144 teachers, and 1,413 pu- 
pils ; in 1872. 70 schools, 724 teachers, and 5,395 pupils, but in 1875 the 
number rose to 74 schools, 758 teachers, and 7,157 pupils. 
A writer who has given this matter special attention says : 
''Muhlhausen, Creuzot, and Besan^on, with their celebrated industrial 
schools ; Belgium, with 50 such institutions and 15,000 apprentices, who 
had attended these schools with great satisfaction to tiiemselves and the 
manufacturers ; France, with its 12,'iOO industrial scholars, and Germany, 
with its 52,127 ajiprentices in 1,450 industrial schools, are sufficient proof 
of the practicability of such institutions." 

In these general reasons the necessity for the industrial training of our 
youth stands justified ; but there are special and urgcur n-asons why of 
all classes in tliis country, the colored youth need tliis kind of training 
rather than that which has not enabled the present generation to favor- 
ably accommodate itself to the constantlj' recurring changes in our social 
development. 

To a certain extent, these reasons are quite fully set forth in an address 
delivered by me last year before the Virginia Historical and Educational 
Association, entitled " Wanted — A Policy ;'" as follows : * 

*' Improvements in machinery, cheapening the. cost of production, and 
the increased artistic taste necessary to insure products which will stand 
rival competition, make it possible for none but th(! tijoroughly educated 
mechanic and artisan to have any place in the workshops of the future. If 
the future Xegro-American is to take any honorable position in the labor 
market of the country, one thing is clear : he must tit himself for the 
changed requii'ements and necessities of that market. In one section of 
the country he is so weak, numerically, as not to rise to tlie dignity f)f an 

6 



82 APPENDIX. 

integral factor in the race pmbliMu ; but in the Si)Uth, where he counts 
1118 torecs l)v liumh'tds of thousands, and where he tij^ures as c(»nspicu- 
ouhly in the factory of the city a.s on the ijhintation of the country, tlie 
revohition which inacliiuery is ellbcting brino^s this matter at once to our 
serious consideration. In the past, in the South, the colored mechanic 
not only held his own but in many places rivaled and surpassed his white 
brotlier, who either was kept down by a false public sentiment against 
honest toil, or pushed to tlie wall by a futile competition with slave- 
labor. 

'To-day this public sentiment among the whites is giving away to the 
stern logic of want and necessity, while the colored mechanic, now his 
own free man. luis r^ot the moral support of the landed aristocracy which 
he once monopolized. To-day white mechanics in the Soutli are induced 
to labcir by the offering of premiums and prizes. Can the colored 
uieciianic. under tiiese changed conditions, suceessfuUj' compete witii the 
white artisan y This is a question of the immediate future, to which a 
false prejudice on the part of our intelligent youth against learning trades, 
but slowly passing away, does not give a favorable answer. These in- 
<iuiries are. therefore, both pertinent and suggestive. 

••Kev. H. H.Garnett. in a. lecture delivered last winter (1877-'78) before 
I he colored people of Brooklyn, made the unwelcome statement tiiat in 
tlie Northern cities, in the business of barbering, wJiitewashing, kalso- 
mining, and catering, of which the colored people liad a monopoly a gen- 
ei-ation past, tliey have not only not held their own but been practically 
pushed out of these emploj'ments in many localities. Is not the same 
lendeuey true in tlie South? Years ago who would have thought of tlie 
sight of a white barber, and yet he is upon us. and the white j'ouiig man 
can be seen on the streets of our Southern cities, going to and from the 
tobacco-factory, whrn-e he is perfectly willing to work at what the Negro 
thought he alone w(/uld do. 

"Can it be said that this falling oft', this deficiency, is compensated by a 
eorrespoiidiug increase in other and more honorable callings? No ; for 
tile marked absence of the colored in;in from the counting-room or behind 
the de>k of the mei-cliant is as conspicuous now as tlien. Certainly these 
additional obstacles which the Negro has to overcome advises us to seek 
out the policy by which the colored people can build n]> their industrial 
:iu{\ artistic forces, hold their own in the lucrative eniplovnients eirciun- 
stanees gave them, and make for themselves places in others. 

"One way of fostering the industrial and artistic element in our nature. 
i- by the establishment of industrial and training schools for the youth of 
both sexes, in which they can be tauglit various handicrafts — the lH)y>, 
such as wood and metal work, carving, drawing, designing, draughting, 
pi-iuting, painting, and tlu- elements of nieehanics; the girls, sewing, 
shirt and dress making, wca\ing, embroidering, designing, and wood- 
ongiaving. In this way a higher class of skilled laborers in our race will 
be produced than we have to-day — a class prepared to cotiipete with the 
intelligent (Jerinan or the ingenious French w(trknian.*' 

A sotuid |)olicy would seem to dictate that the <'stablislunent of in- 
dustrial and teciinieal scliools demands our earliest attention and our 
most pn»->i<li'nt elVorts. First, because in that section of country in 
which the majority of our people are found, and where they have been 
accustomed to labor in the ditlerent trades, the opixntunities for leai-ning 
trades in the jiasl. atVorded through the self-interest of the slave-holder, 
do not now exist, owing to the increasing hostilities of trade unions, 
founded on (.•a>;te. Second, b"cause no institution exists to-day in the 
Soutli which has ample facilitiiis for giving that thorough and com- 
prehensive technical instruction needed. There arc institutions iu which 
this instruction is incidental and >ulMU-dinate, where a tew — two or three 



APPENDIX. S3 

— ran learn a few tnides aiul (•,alliii;Lj,'s, Imt iid [ilace where thin is the piiu- 
eipal (lesifyii and not secondary' to other objects. Third, because the 
present sj-8teui of education will re>ult in :iii undue prominence of pro- 
fei?5=ionarinen. of lawyers without briefs doctors witliout patients, 
preachers without con!^rei;-:itions, starviiii;- in the midst of plenty, while, 
the hidden resources of our eountiw lie undi'veloped for those of anotlier 
race who have received the benefits of a tecluiical education. Fourth, Ijb- 
cause the tirst result of this new trainin<^ will b'j to giv(! the race a direct 
representation in tlie indu>tria], manufactui'intr, and conunercial ititerests 
of the country. Fifth, at present onryoutliare eonfined to a few occupa- 
tions, by reason of the i)rejudices and traditions of the past ; but this 
practical education, by deveioiMUi; our talent and mechanical sl<ill to a 
hiofher dei:;ree than can be ieach<'(l by mere empiricism, will uiKiuestion- 
aWy open, and open forever, hicrative avenues of emplpynient hitherto 
conlined to the white American. Sixth, because if the Negro possesses 
art capabilities of a liigh order, tliis is the best possible i)re])aration for 
their rational and symmetrical development. 



I. 

RACE UNITY— ITS IMPORTANCE AND NECESSITY— CAUSES 
WHICH RETARD ITS DEVELOP.MEN T— HOW IT MAY BE 
SECURED— OUR PLAIN DUTY. 

By Ferdinand L. Barnett, of Illinois. 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Conjerence: 

The subject assigned me is one of great importance. The axioms which 
teach us of the strength in iniity and the certain destruction following 
close upon the heels of strife and dissension, need not be here repeated. 

\--4\ace elevation can be attained only through race unity. Pious precepts, 
business integrity, and moral stamina o^ the most exalted stamp, may 
win the admiration for a noble few, but unless the moral code, by the 
grandeur of its teacliings, actuates every individual and incites us as a race 
to nobler aspirations and quickens us to the realization of our moral shori- 
comings. the distinction accorded to the f(;w will avail us nothing. The 
wealth of tlie Indies may crown the etJorts <if fortune's few favored ones. 
They mav receive all tlie homage wealth invariably bring-. I.vu uidess we 
as a race "check the spirit of pomp and di>]>lay, and by initi'-ntly practic- 
ing the most rigid economy, secure homes for ourselves and childr.ui, the, 
prefernumt won by a few wealthy ones will pi-ov(> sliort-lived and unsat- 
isfactory. We may have oure/lucational lights here and there, and by the 
hrilliancv of their achievements they may be living witnesses to the falsity 
of the doctrine of our inherited inferiority, but this alone will not suffice. 
It is a general enlightonment of the race which must engage our noblest 
powers. One vicious, ignorant Negro is readily conceded to be a type 
of all the rest, but a Negro e(hicated and refined is said to be an excep- 
tion. We must labor to reverse this rule; i-ducation and moral excellence 
must become general and characteristic, with ignorance and depravity for 
the exception. 

w Seeina:, then, the necessitv of united action and universal worth rather 
th an individual brilliancy, we sorrowfully admit that race unity with us 
is a blessing not yet enjoyed, but to be possessed. We are united only in 
the comlitions which degrade, and actions which paralyze the efforts of the 



84 



APPENDIX. 



worthy, who labor for the beiielit of the multitude. We are a race of 
leadt^rs, eveiy one prer<iuiiing that his neighbor and not himself was de- 
erocd to be a follower. To-day. if any one of you should go home and 
announce yourself candidate for a certain position, the following ilay 
would find a dozen men in the tield, each well prepared to prove that he 
alone is capable of obtaining and tilling the position. Failing to convince 
the people, he would di-op out the race entirely or do all in his power to 
jeopardize the interest of a more successful biother. 

Why this non-fraternal feeling? Why such a spirit of dissension i* We 
attribute it. first, to lessons taught in by-gone days by those whose secu- 
rity rested in our ilisunion. If the same spirit of raceuuity had actuated 
the Xegro which lias always characteiized the Indian, this Government 
would have trembled under the blow of that immortal hero. John Brown, 
and the first drop of fratricidal blood would have been shed, not at Fort 
vSumter, but at Harper's Ferry. Another cause maj- be found in our 
partial enlightenment. The ignoriint man is always narrow-minded in 
politics, business or religion. Unfold to him a plan, and if he cannot see 
some interest resulting to self, however great the resulting good to the 
uiultitude, it meets only his partial approbation and fails entirely to secure 
his active co-operation. A thinl reason applies, not to the unlearned, but 
to the learned. Too many of our learned men are afflicted with a mental 
and moral aberration, termed in common parlance '• big-heui-led." Hav- 
ing reached a commendable degree of eminence, they seem to stand and 
say, "Lord, we thank Thee we are not as other aien are." They -view 
with perfect unconcern the struggles of a worthy brother; tiiey proffer 
him no aid, but deem it presumption in him to expect it. They may see 
a needed step but fail to take it. Others may see the necessity, take steps 
to meet it, and call them to aid. But, no; they did not lead; they will 
not follow, and half of their influence for good is sacrificed b\- an insane 
jealousy that is a consiu«ing fire in everj' bosom wherein it finds lodg- 
ment. 

v^'Afewof the prominent causes which retard race unity having been 
noticed, let us look for the remedy. First, oin- natural jealoiigy must be' 
overcome. The task is no easy one. We must look for fruits of our lal)or 
in the next generation. With us our faults are confirmed. An old slave 
once lay dying, friends and relatives were gathered around. The min- 
ister sat at the bedside endeavoring to prepare the soul for the great 
cliange. The old man was willing to forgive every one except a certain 
particularlj- c»bstrcperous African who had caused liim much injury. But 
being over-persuaded he yielded and said: " Well, if I dies I forgives hinj, 
but if I lives— dat darkey better take care."' It is much the same with us; 
when we die our natures will change, but while we live our neighbors 
must take care. Upon the young generation our instruction may be 
t'flfective. They must be taught that in helping one another they help 
themselves; and that in the race of life, when a favored one excels and leads 
the rest, their powers must be employed, not in retarding his progress, 
but in urging hini on and inciting others to" emulate his exampl<'. 

We nuist dissipate the glooin_ofJguorance whicli hangs like a pall over 
us. In former days we were tndned in iguonnice. and many of my dis- 
tinguisluMl liearers will remember when they dare not be caught ctdtivat- 
ing an intimate acquaintance with the spelling-book. But the time is 
passed when the seeker-after-knowledge is reviled an<l persecuted. 
I'hroughout the coiuitry tlie publi(! school system largeh' obtains; books 
witiioul numbiT and papers witliout price; lend their euligliteinnent; 
while high >cho(>l>, colleges and universities all over our broad domain 
riirowopen tiieir in\iting doors and say, " Whosoever will may come.'' 

We must not fail to notice any der eliction of our educated people. They 
u)u<t Icani tliHt their duty is to elevate their less favored brethren, and 



APPENDIX. 85 

this cannot be done while pride and eonceil prevent tlieni from enterinj^- 
lieartil}- into tlie work, A spirit of nn'ssionary zeal mu8t actuate them to 
go down amonji: the lowly, and by word and action say : ''Come, witli me 
and 1 will du you <>ood.'' 

We must help one another. Oiu- industries must be patronized, and 
our laborers eneouraji^ed. There seems to be a natural disineliuation on 
our part to patronize our own workmen. We are easily pleased witli tlic 
labor of tlu^ white hands, but when th(> same is known to be the produei 
of our own skill and energy, we become extremely exaetinj^ and iiard to 
please. F.rom eoloied men we expect better work, we pay them h'ss, 
and usually take our own ifood time for payment. We will jiatronize a 
colored merehant as long as he will credit us, but when, on the verge of 
bankruptcy he is obliged to stop the credit system, we pass l)y him and 
pay our money to the white rival. For these reasons our industries are 
rarely leiuunerative. We must lay aside these '"besetting sins" and be- 
come united in our appreciation and practical encouragement of our own 
laborers. 

Our societies should wield their influence to secure colored ai)prentiees 
and mechanics. Ry a judicious disposition of their custom, they might 
place colored apprentices in vocations at present entirely unpracticed by 
us. Our labor is generally menial. We have hitherto had a monopoly 
of America's menial occupations, but thanks to a progressive Caucasian 
element, we no longer .f;/^>/- from tliat monopoly. The wliite man en- 
ters the vocations hitherto exclusively ours, and we miust enter and bi- 
come proticient in professions hitherto exclusively practiced by him. 

Our communities must be united. By concerted action great results 
can be accomplished. We must not only act upon the defensive, but 
when necessarj' we should take the otlensive. We should jealously guaid 
our ever}' interest, public and private. Let us here speak of our schools. 
They furnish tht^ surest and swiftest means in our power of obtainina' 
knowledge, confidence and respect. There is no satisfactory i-t-asou why 
all children who seek instruction should not have full and equal privi- 
leges, but law has been so perverted in many places, North and South, 
that sanction is given to separate schools ; a pernicious system of discrinri- 
nation which invaiiabl.y operates to the disadvantage of the colored race. 
If we are separate, let it be from "turret tofoun'dation stone." It is un- 
just to draw tlie color line in.schools, and our communities should resent 
the added insult of forcing the colored pupils to receive instructions from 
the refuse material of wliite educational institutions. Wliite teachers 
take colored schools from necessitj', not from choice. We except of 
course those who act from a missionary spirit. 

White teachers in colored schools are nearly always mentally, morally, 
or linancially bankrupts, and no colored community should tolerate the 
imposition. High schools "and colleges are sending learned colored 
teachers in the field constantl}'. and it is manifestly unjust to make them 
stand idle and see their people taught bj' those whose only interest lies in 
■securing their monthly compensation in dollars and cents. Again, col- 
ored schools tlnuve better under colored teachers. The St. Louis schools 
furnish an excellent example. According to the report of Superintendent 
Harris, during the past two years the schools have increased under col- 
ored teachers nu)re than fifty per cent , and similar results always follow 
the introiluetion of '-olored teachers. In cases of mixed schools our tencli- 
fVA should be eligible to positions. They invariably prove equal to their 
requirements. In Detroit aiul Chicago they have been admitted and 
proved tiiemselves unquestionably capable. In Chicago their whitt- 
pupils ovitnumber the colore(l ten to one, and yet they have met with 
decided success. Such gratifying results nuist be won l)y energetic, 
united action on the part of tlie interested commiuiitie-. White people 



86 AI-PENDIX. 

^raiit us few privileges vohiutarilj'. We must wage continued warfare 
for our rights, oi- tiiey will l)e disregarded and abriilged. 

Mr. President, we miglit begin to enumerate the rich results of race 
unity at sunrise and continue to sunset and half would not be told. In 
behalf of the }ieople we are here to represent, we ask for some intelligent 
action of this Conference ; some organized movement whereby concerted 

jjiction may he had by our race all over the land. liCt us decide upon 
some intelligent. unite<l system of operation, and go home ajid engage the 
time and talent of our eonstiruents in i)rosperous labor. \Weare laboring 

-for race elevation, and race unity is the all-important factor in the work. 
It nnist be .secured at whatever cost. Iiulividual action, however insig- 
nificant, becomes powerful when united and exeited hi a conunon chan- 
nel. Many thousand years ago, a tiny ctnal began a reef upon the ocean's 
bed. Years passed and others came. Their fortunes were united and 
the structure grew. Generations came and went, and corals by the mil- 
lion came, lived, and died, each adding his mite to the work, till at last 
the waters of the grand old ocean bi-oke in ripples around their tireless 
heads, and now, as the traveler gazes upon the reef, hundreds of miles in 
extent, he can faintly realize what great rc-ults will follow united action. 
So we must labor, with thf full assurance rliat we will reap our reward 
indue season. Thougii deeply submerged by the wave of popular opin- 
ion, which deems natural inferiority insejiarably associated with a black 
akin, though weighted down by an accmsed prejudice that seeks every 
opportunity to crush us, still we must labor and despair not — patiently, 
ceaselessly, and unitedlj*. The time will come when our heads will rise 
above the troubled waters. Though generations come and go, the result 
of our labors will yet be manifest, and an impartial world will accord us 
that rank among other races which all mav a-pire to, but only the worthy 
can win. 



ELEMENTS OF PKOSPERITY. 
By Theo. II. Greene, of Misbissippi. 

A dcpire among nations to improve, to succeed and to obtain lasting 
happiness, tranquillity, peace and comfort, is a characteristic of human- 
ity and a predoaiinant spirit wherever civilization holds nntrammeled 
sway. We are placed in this large and beautiful world, which is so ad- 
rniral)ly adapted to the attainment of liie>e blessings, to make the best of 
life, to provide for our liapiiiuess and comfort. If we fail to do this we 
are unworthy the dignity which dislinguisiics us from the lower animals. 
The philosophy fif luunan life, in a few words, therefore is. " Live for 
something; be something." In this age of progress tins reipiisition can 
and siiould not be (with those who have tiie true spirit of the age infused 
in them) optional; it is and must be compul>oiy ; not a physical compul- 
sion — that cannot be, as every man is, id-; own free agent ; but a compul- 
>ion emanating from the inviucii)lc power of a nohler intervening — the 
«W)nl, the honor, the pride of man. 

What man or race of men possessing these properties could rust out 
their existence by a failiu-e to iiui)rove and lielter their condition ? Such a 
cla>;s of men would !)'• unworthy the name ;ind dihlinetion of men ; aye, 
tliey would hiek the iiisiinct of liie lower animals, being lost to every 
priuciule of honor and respectability : aliens lo industry ; slaves to lazi- 



APPENDIX. 'S7 

nosR and Ignoranoo ; obstacles to sooicty, and inipedinKMits to oivilization. 
To escape and prevent this disrepiitabie estimate we, as representatives 
of our race, are here assembled. We liave dee])-rooted in ns tlie demands 
and reqnisitions of this age. We desire t<> improve ; we desire to play a 
respectable and lionorable part in the oivat drama of life. We feel, know, 
and are confident that we have tlie snseepfibilities to merit and cliiim tliis 
standin.o- as a race. Wiiat we need is tin; determination and r.'solntion 
to develop rhese susceptibilities, and claim a recognition commensui-ate 
with tiiem. 

We occupy a peculiar and rather comi)lieated position in this country— 
a position which most seriously engages our attention, and materially 
affects our prosperity and advancement. Being endowed wirii th<' bless- 
ings of freedom andclotlied in tlie distineVion of citizenship, we can but 
feel inten sted in an attempt to imjjrove our condition and make an eft'ort 
to pry into tlie mystic futin-e. to see what lies therein that will redound 
to our good. It is unquestionably neo'ssary and fitting that we liave this 
national dcdiberation upon the problem of oin; futun- status in this coun- 
try. Our situation demands it; the drift, of a riglitly-inelined, philan- 
thVopic public sentiment demand- it ; that invincibl.- spirit implanted in 
the heart of man, which prompts him to elevate himself to a standai-d of 
usefulness, honor and respectability, ilemands it; all those sacred ties and 
chords of aifeetion which binds us with love and devotion for our raei- 
demands it ; this, the age of progress, demands it. .Since the demand i- 
so pressing in its nature and so urgi^nt a necessity, let us resolve to do 
whatever we can to uplift our people from the lamentable surroundings 
of the pre-ent. tind endeavor to ameliorate their condition, 

BROTHERHOOD OF MAN. 

God has made of one blood all nations of the earth— one man of His 
creation is the common father of us all. If any ditlerence exist.- aflVcting 
the rights and dignity of humanity, He; disavows the distinction. We are 
all alike de.scended from Adam and Xoah, in the .«aine line, the, .same un- 
t)roken succession of posterity. We are the children of the same father. 
(Jne God has made us all. Our composition and physiology, our apti- 
tudes and inclinations are the same. These facts are true and cannot be 
refuted. All mankind are, and must, therefore, be brothers. 

But, alas I this is, most unfortunately, far from being the situation of 
humanity, and most e.specially as applied to our race. (;an any legible 
or humane reason be assigned why the dignity of this part of God's crea- 
tion is placed in such a pitiable dilemma, and caused to stand alone ui< a 
separate and distinct people? Inequity, Justice and fairness none can 
be assigned save the ignoble, dishonorable and iulmman distinction based 
ui)on dirt'erence in color. Shame upon the boasted grandeur of American 
refinement and civilization that this .simple dittenmce of color should ' 
draw the line of demarcation b(>tween the populace of this great Repub- 
lic, in violation to every principle of honor and justice, and in utter C()n- 
tradistinction to the doctrines of that sacred charter and hallowed .scroll 
which once redressed the wrongs of this country, promulgating and de- 
ciariug that no distinction shotiJd exist bet\\e*Mi humanity. Mark the 
language : 

"All men are created eipiai. and endowed t)y 1 heir Creator with cer- 
tain inalienable rights." 

Should the rights promi.-ed bv the great Declaration be violated and 
sicrifieed to the trivial dirt'erence of color? Should this be a government 
of ow\ two or three colors and cla.«ses. or should it be a government of 
all coh)rs and classes, of '• all men."" a< declared by its founders? Much 
to be lamented is it that this Government, drdicated to human rights, 
shoukl eoiintenaiice an infringement upon the sacred charter of it- liber- 



88 APPENDIX. 

ties, and fix the color of the skhi as the si.^n of separation and the line of 
demarcation. A purely civilized and Cln-lstian judoment denounces and 
deplores such a preposterous alienation from the laws of truth and jus- 
tice. In the clear and comprehensive view of honest manhood, it matters 
not whether we be white, black, yellow or red. we are men ; gifted M'ith 
common manhood and entitled to common rights. Maj' the silent but 
efl'ective workings of Him who knows no color, race or nationality, speed 
the day when this unchristian and inhuman question of color shall cease 
to have and occupy a place in the memorj' of luunanity ; when all men 
shall be brought to recognize the common fatherhood of God and the uni- 
versal brotherhood of men. 

Let us, fellow-citizens, do whatever lies in om' ability to bring about this 
happj' condition of aiVairs. Let us by our actions show that we are worthy 
the brotherhood of all men, and entitled to a recognition as such, reli- 
giously, socially and politically. Our interests in this country are identi- 
cal, antl if success is desirable they are inseparable. In our Southern sec- 
tion this fact is undeniably true, one class possessing the capital, the 
other labor; and if it were possible for them to move on liarmoniously in 
solid phalanx, each assisting the other — burying deep into oblivion the 
prejudices and animosities of the past, fostering a nuitual and reciprocal 
brotherly feeling — how much happier, how much more prosperous would 
we be. Prosperity and happiness would brood over the land ; domestic 
comfort and peace would take the place of the strife, confusion and tur- 
moil that now retard progress, and ours, indeed, would be a happy 
land. 

Should these hopes of philanthropy fail to ripen into fruition, we must 
not become derelict ; our mission must be fulfilled ; our part on the great 
stage of human life must be played. Let us never, though the sky be 
dark above and gloomy forebodings infest our pathway, be discouraged 
and fall by the waj'-side. We can never achieve i)r(\-;tige and recognition 
from irresolution ancT inaction. We must be up and doing. Our mai-cb 
must be onward and our motto higher. 

A REVIEW. 

That the progress of our race in this country during the brief period of 
our recognition as citizens has been remarkable, no one actuated by 
righteous inclinations will assume the province of denying. A decade 
or two is a brief period in the history of a race ; it is sufficient, however, 
to form a correct inference and estimate of what the developments of the 
future will attest, provided a wholesome and judicious use be made of the 
advantages vouchsafed. The pitiable surroundings that marked our early 
history is too well known to necessitate a reiteration ; it occupies too con- 
spicuous a page in the history of this couiitrj- not to be known. Ah. yes, 
it is known, and it will be remembered as long as tliat heaven-employed 
agency, ''justice," occupies a place in tlie hearrs of the good and brave. 

Turned out, as we were, upon the charities and mercies of a busy Avorld. 
having been deprived of those advantages wliieh would have enabled us 
to assiune the duties and responsibilities of American citizenship co-equal 
with th(; various races of our mixed population, it could not have been 
reasonably expected that an illustrious l)egiiining and an instantaneous 
solution of the complicated niacliinci-y <>f American eitizenslnp would 
nuirk our eaily history ; but actuateil and inspired liy patriotic love and 
devotion for our eountry, liaving unutlerabie gratitude for tiiose who 
fought tlK* battles of freeclom for us, before we C(udd light for oin-selves, 
we embarked on the great shi|) of State, hoping and praying that tlie 
magnanimity and justice of a heiieficenr heaven would smile upon us, 
tit u- and cause us to bi;ir the name :ind ])erff>rm the iluties tif eiti/ens 
with In'coming dignity. Numberless are the obstacles that have served 



APPENDIX. »y 

to impede our progress; but with ail siirrouiHlino; adversities and impedi- 
ments, we have endeavored to stem tlic current and pusli onward to tlie 
mooiinjjsof a just and honorable estimate as American citizens. Whetlu'r 
or not we are entitled to these, I shall not say. I will ajjpeal to that su- 
preme ti'ibune — the conscience of this nation — to answer for me. Sub- 
missively, earnestly and patiently have wc lonjred, waited and prayed for 
a better and brighter era to dawn upon us. Our hopes, desires and an- 
ticipations have resulted in no more tnan their conception. We feel by 
virtue of our present surroundings and condition that our advancement 
is not as fast as it should be ; we feel that there is vast room for improve- 
ment. 

Being actuated by these feelings, and prompted by a desire and anx- 
iety to better our condition, we are liere in this National Conference to 
deliberate and discuss our condition, and ascertain the medium through 
which a change maybe eftected. and an extrication from the thraldom of 
our present circumstances. 

MIGRATION. 

The all-absorbing topic that now agitates our people in tliis country. 
and especially in the South, is migration. The colored people of the South 
hold in their hands the boasted grandeur and material wealth of tliat sec- 
tion. They also possess the most potent means of all success, that is, 
labor. Labor rightly estimated is, indeed, the most poweiful and efteet- 
ive element of success ; without this no wealth, no happiness, no comfort 
could be obtained— all of these blessings are the products of successful 
labor. No region under the heavens is better adapted and more condu- 
cive to the ratie than the South, The only question that interests them 
is : Can thev, in this section, situated as they now are, work out a suc- 
cessful and peaceful destiny? Does their labor meet witli a just and com- 
mensurate recompense? Are their rights and liberties duly respected ? 

These are the questions to be discusstxl and settled for them. Loth 
and unwilling are these people to leave the homes of their birth, the joy- 
ous surroundings and pleasant associations of their childhood; grievously 
does it afiect them to leave the soil within whose bosom sleeps those who 
were near and dear to them. These people, though untutored and deemed 
inferior, possess those feelings of attection and devotion to "home" and 
and its surroundings that are possessed by the erudite and retined. Their 
souls, bedewed witli the memories of happy and joyous associations, cause 
them to reluctantly turn their backs upon iiome to seek abodes in distant 
and unknown regions ; but the unconquerable spirit of manhood arises 
within them and inspires them to seek homes where labor is better re- 
spected and compensated, and their rights better regarded. In equity 
and justice can they be blamed ? An emigratian of any magnitude can- 
not fail to seriously and disastrously attcct the material wealth of tlie 
South. If large numbers of our people, stimulated by the hope of better- 
ing their condition, leave the South, the very grave question of "What 
will become of us?" will soon disturb the repose of those who are most 
benefited by the labors of the race in that section. It has already caused 
great commotion, and in many instances pledges and promises for an im- 
provement upon the present manner of conducting aftairs in that section 
have been made. It is needless to say tiiat, if they are carried out to the 
letter, it will redound to the lasting good of both the laborer and the hiiul 
owner. 

This section is, as is well known, one of the finest regions that adorn 
the face of creation, inexhaustible in its resources, unparalleled in the fer- 
tility of its soil, and unsurpassed in tiie salubrity of its climate. The fertil- 
ity and productive properties have ever existed in this section. Yes. they 
existed during the counties^' ages of the forgotten past, wlieii iti? liill», 



90 APPENDIX. 

ilalos and >\vainp> slt-pt m undistiirbod quiet, the capacities of the soil 
iiiidt'veloped. and the wealtli and orandeiir of tlie section lingered in 
'• hli>sfui i'ei)Ose.' ■ 

IMie re-onrees and requisites for the establislinient and upbuil(hng of a 
great and powerful section of this Union were known and dwelt upon 
with uiispcaixable admiration, hut the}- would have slept on in (juiet and 
undisturlx'd reality. 

Through the still hip^f of countleBs ages, 

had there nor been a race of people po.Sf^'ssino; the constitution, physical 
strength and ability to draw out tiie resources and develop tlie fertility. 
^Vhat race of people was this? Xeed I say? The answer comes back to 
ine fiom the old hills and swamps of the South, now worn out. '* the 
Negro.'" He alone had the physical composition to draw out of the soil 
the wt-alth which the section boasts of. Had it not been for the lai)or of 
this ])eoi)l(' the richness of this great section would have remained in the 
ground, where God placed it. What race could supply the demand? 
What rac«' could take their places in this section now, siiould they leave? 
Without elimination 1 .issert, none. The powerful rays of a Southern 
summer's sun would make even the much-talked of " lieathcn ( 'hinef"* 
seek the umbrageous splendor ami comfort of somi* tall gum or oak. it 
i.s asserted by many that the Chinese will supply the demand. The Xew 
Orleans I'lcayiine^ the official journal of the State of Louisiana. I think, 
expressed th<' sentiments of the South when it said : 

"They would sutfocate Ein-opean civilization and all those elements of 
the progressive evolution of science and art and industry. * * * [f 
the Negro laborers leave us, let us see to it that Louisiana becomes not a 
State cotnposed of Asiatic heathen, although thev mav work for ten cents 
a day.- ' ■ 

It is well known that the place and labor of the Negro in the South 
cannot be supplied. Without them and their labor the lieldsof the great" 
king of the South. "Cotton," would be replaced by the less productive 
thistle, gra^s and weeds, and the disparaged planter coidd only siu-vey, 
in pensive quietness, what once was the pride of his being, the establisJi- 
ment of his comfort, and the source of his wealtli. 'I'he South woidd 
fall far short of what it now is without this mueli-abused and despised 
people. 

. AGRICULTURE AND LABOR. 

Agricultin-e is an agency of acknowledged importance in every division 
of the civilized world. The cultivation of the soil is coeval with tlie ex- 
istence of the human family. When man came pure and inmiortal from 
the hands of his Creator, he was placed in a beautiful and well-furnished 
garden, and the injunctioiiof the Creator to him was, " Dress, adorn and 
kee)) it." After tiie infringement of God"s command by man, the obli- 
gation to till the soli was reiu'wed. The decree and mandate of Heaven 
ordained that by tiie "sweat of his brow"" he should cultivate the soil. 
Xo race of people are Iietter adapted, titled and (jualilied fortius all-im- 
jmrtant and necessary calling than ours. Their relations to it are natural; 
they are natmally fond of it; hence their great success. 

In every country :ind in every situation agrieulture js essential to the 
increase, subsistenee and haiipiiiess of man." In allsfag<'s of society it i< 
alike iieedfid to its w. li-being and jn-osperity, ami has accordingly been 
held in the highest repute from the most remote .ages. It is a commend- 
able and honorable art, as well as it is useful and beneficial. Gideon, the 
renowned jmlge and warriorof Israel, was called from the plow to pre- 
>iile over the fortunes of that nation. Cineinn;itus. imuK.rtalized l)y flie 
coiKiUest of the \'olsci. abandoned his plow to lead the jloman armies to 
bailie and to victory. Washington, whose name will be hallowed by the 



APPENDIX. 91 

reven'uccof imiminbered agi's, wiis(levoUHUoai>ncultiire, even to passion, 
and one of liij! proiulest distinctions was tiiat of u good farmer. Tlie tral- 
lant Putnam, wiien lie lieard of the battle of Lexington, was plou-ino; in 
liis field : lie lefl iiis plow in tlie fin-row and liasteiK-d on. to strike a blow 
for the liberties of his coinitiy. 

Agriculrure. tlierefore, is not to be eonsiiiered as an inslgnilieant and 
unworthy calling. It is an art of necessity, the only durabji- source and 
foundation of power and plenty; the most i-csjicctable, the ni >'t lionesl. 
tile most useful, and tlie most benelleial secular professitin in tlie world. 
.Since agriculture ami its utility are of such vast im])<>rtanc ■ to the pro- 
gress and well-being of countries ami nations, it cannot fail t<> e pecii- 
liarly favorable to freedom and iiulependence. No art or calling is bet- 
ter adapted to inspire the hitman family with a love for freedbm and a 
longing for independence. No nation has ever enjoyeil these blessings 
in the total neglect of agriculture. It is inseparably interwoven and 
linked witli the progress of society, the happiness, comfort and freedom 
of man. 

History sustains the fact that whenever a nation beco 'os slack in its 
attention to the concerns of agrieultun", it nuist be in no small degree ar- 
tributable to th(> want of a proptM- regard and estimate for freedom and 
independence. 

As the command of Heaven was expedient to make and induce man to 
labor and cultivate the earth for his h.appiness and comfort, so should the 
eflbrts of the philosophic and enlightened of oiu" race be directed toward 
impressing upon them the necessity of paying due attention to this most 
important of all huniaii arts, and to labor, the great basis of human sus- 
tenance. 

EDUCATION. 

Of all the agencies that serve to further advancement and produce 
happiness ami refinement, education stands first and foremost. Its power 
and etHcacj' in the attainment of these has been forcibly exemplitied din- 
ing all ages, and it is an undoubted fact that it will continue to wield 
this commanding power and influence in shaping the affairs and destinies 
of nations for all coming ages. 

Liberty has always been dependent upon intelligence. Frciedom, duly 
balanced, properly regulated, and happil3' enjoyed, has no other founda- 
tion for a perpetual existence, except in the intelligence of the people. 
The world's history informs us tliat political, religious, ami social melior- 
ation must result from this source. Inform the minds of the people ami 
they will have discernment to discover and know their real and be^t in- 
terests; when they are ignorant they are liable to be deceived by every 
" wind and doctrine," become the victims of misguided fidelity, and the 
property of unprincipled demagogues. Education enables them to think 
and reflect, judge and determine for themselves. Knowledge is power ; 
let it depart, and liberty will become an exile. 

" Without knowledge," said the immortal Sumner, ''•there can be no 
progress. Vice and barbarism are the inseparable companions of ignor- 
ance, for to do wliat is right we must first understand wliat is right." 

Education, therefore, is designed to lessen the evils and augment the 
blessings of human life. To live well and to do well in whatever station 
assigned us on the stage of life, is the great business interest and duty of 
man, and to the attainment of these eiuls the eflbrts of instruction 
should be mainly directed. It is intimately connecte<l with the happiness 
of man in whatever sphere he moves — religious, social,' and political. If 
a desire to be and remain ignorant be predominant, he may indeed do 
without it. as no one ought to be com|jelled to become resiieetable and 
happy ; but he cannot answer the end of lii^ being without some .-:h;ae ot 



&2 APPENDIX. 

tMlucatioiial training; and he who is devoid of a spirit to improve is cei"- 
tainly an incubus to society and a dead weight to tliis progressive age. 

If, therefore, we wisli to elevate our race to a higher standard of honor, 
respectability, and recognition, we must see that the}' are educated. We 
must use our utmost endeavors to push forward the great car of educa- 
tion, and impress upon the people the necessity of their throwing otl' the 
despicable yoke of ignorance anci superstition, and litting themselves 
properly tr) live up to the demands and requirements of the age. Our 
Government, recognizing the utility, benelit, and blessings of an intelli- 
gent populace, has instituted a system of fi-ee public education. The 
doors of tlie school-house are open alike to all. It is said to the pooi- as 
well as the rich : ''Go flt and qualify yourself for the duties of citizen- 
ship ;" but, sad to say, too many are heedless of the command. Let us 
warn thein of this irreparable injustice which they are not only doing 
themselves but their race. Those who are prejudiced by the fear of our 
nltimate succ -ss always dwell with marked emphasis upon the evil that 
emanates fi-om the careless and leckless, not upon the good which we 
endeavor, throigh our humble eiforts, to achieve. Let us from to-day 
form a new resolution : to work as we never liave before. Let us unfui'l 
the banner of education to the breeze, and implore all to look npon it. 
imbibe its benefits, thereby becoming titted to lead useful and honorable 
lives. The wonder-working developments of this nineteenth century 
demand an intelligent populace ; a tliousand physical and moral causes 
are in operation to produce the grand result, and a failure to impi-ove tlie 
means and advantages allotted wonld be unpardonable, base, and ignoble. 
The vast and impressive prospects of creation, with its innumerable 
agencies and requisites for the happiness and comfort of man, are all be- 
fore us ; the glory of the heavens, the beaut.y and adaptability of the 
earth, the grandeur and sublimity of the ocean, the fertility of the hills, 
dales, and swamps, the inexhaustible resources of the mine and quarry, 
all unite in one common language to man — their monarch — to improve. 
They are all calculated to inspire and impress upon man the necessity of 
his improvemeni. 

SKLF-RELIANCE. 

In soi\ing the problem of a successful destiny, self-reliance should be 
considered as a counnendable, distinguishing, and mostbeneticial element. 
We are unmi-^takahly and unchangeably the framers of our own destiny, 
and above -ill things we should strive to depend upon our own industry. 

In matters of a secondaiy importance. suVistitution and dependence 
may be practiced ; but in the all-important duty of making a creditable 
ami honoral)le history, we should lit ourselves in such a manner as to be 
self-reliant. I do not pretend to say that we should be independent of 
all about us ; that cannot be. We are by nature dej)endent creatures. 
Man is a being who, fi-om the cradle to the gi-ave, is constantl}- undergo- 
ing changes, and without the care and assistance of others he could not 
exist. I nx'an that spii-it of independence which will i)rompt us to rely 
ui)on our own industry. dei)end U|)on our own resources, and work oiU, 
such a history as will demand the appreciation and admiration of those 
who rigliD'ously desire to see the race prosper. 

" The gods helj) those who help themselves." Let us realize this fact, 
ijovern oiuselve< accordingly, and it cannot fail to be a grand step towar(l 
advancement. 

UNITY. 

In unity there is strenglh and p«>rpetuity. If we ever wisli to succeed 
as a race, we must be more united. There exists among our people too 
unich of the spirit of antagonism, and too much diversity of sentiment. 
Tlu'He are damaging qualities and cannot fail to cause retrogression. If 



APPENDIX. 93 

we hope to obtain tin; recof^iiition for which we are fstriviii<?. it must be 
throujfh assDciiitefl action. As lon>2: as a multiplicity of opiiuon is adhered 
to; as lonj? as there is a variaiiee between those wlio aspire to lead and 
tlie followers ; as lonjj^ as a division is in the ranks, we will hear tlie tliini- 
ders of retrogression roai-ing around us, and tiie curse of inferi()rity 
liurled at us, and we will make no progress, but remain just where we arc 
now. Let us endeavor to remedy tiiis evil. The real and best interests 
of the people should l)e discussed and agreed upon ; the medium througli 
which a most speedy and beneficial change can be etlected, adopted by all; 
then let leader and follower, in unbroken cohunn, resolve to remain 
united, and not be so easily led off by every wind and doctrine, 'riui- 
shall we make a grand advance toward our eleviition and estaljlish a pre<> 
edent wliicli will'do us good for all time to come. 

RECAPITULATION AND CONCLUSION. 

We have a great mission to perform, and its accomplishment can only 
be creditably attained through determination, perseveran(;e and labor, 
for without these we can accomplish nothing. The eyes of the world 
are upon us. scrutinizingly watching tlie record and history which we arc 
making for ourselves. ^STo one unbiased by prejudice can reasonably 
doubt that we have tiie susceptibilities and capacities suflicient to enable 
us to make a history worthy of respect and admiration of all men and na- 
tions. What we need is unceasing and untiring labor to develop these 
faculties. This cannot fail to harbinger success, and redoiuid to our last- 
ing good. Though at present our future seems dark and gloomy, fears 
encompass us, let us not become weary and discouraged, let us endeavoi- 
to imbibe renewed vigor and increased inspiration from our unwholesome 
surrounding and complex situation. It is said that tlie darkest hour is 
just before dawn ; if so let us strive to realize the fact that the present 
period of our history is about the gloomiest of our experience, and en- 
deavor to fit ourselves for the dawn of a better and brighter day ; but 
while we hope and long for this change, let us ever remember and never 
lose sight of the fact, that we are the prime agents in the work. It is our 
destinv that we are framing, and we must assiune the conspicuous part 
in the drama. Let us, however, feel that we are not alone in this great 
struggle ; we have honest, earnest friends to aid us, if we but help our- 
selves; beneficent heaven smiles above us and will rear up friends to our 
cause; considerate, just, and philanthropic humanity, regardless of geo- 
graphical lines and State boumlaries, from the South as well as the 
Xorth, will meet us and extend to us a helping hand. Animated and 
cheered bv this, let us toil on until a change is etlected, and the oiiposing 
forces wliich now retard our advancement shall no "longer lie in cold 
obstruction" across our path\(ay. Let us ever keep in view and prop- 
erly estimate theeflicacy of that most potent and indispensable element, 
•"Labor ;" let us ever direct the attention of our people to it. and impress 
upon ihem the necessity of their paying due attention to it. 

To the education of our people, let us consecrate and dedicate the hours 
of our existence, realizing the fact that liberty, fieedom. and happiness 
have not other bulwark for their enjoyment and perpetuity but in educa- 
tion. In proportion to the love you bear for your race ; in i>roportion to 
the ardor with which you long to see them elevated to a higher and 
more connnanding standard of refinement, honor, and respectability ; by 
how much you desire to see them adequately qualified to move on ^^■ith 
the enlightened of this progressive age, by so much will you endeavor, 
wherever you are, wherever fate assigns you by all the means in your 
power, to furnish thena with those; truly fundamental and cardinal ele- 
ments, education, Christianity, morality and virtue. Let education have 
our first and fondest care : religion then, one of civilization's chief and 



94 APPENDIX. 

fairest liand-niaids. <*amiot fail to extend its mild, humanizing, and I'^fin- 
\w^ int1iii'n(:(^> aboiif tlif stronj^holds of ignoranc, ininuity and vice, 
caii.-inij those (it-nioralizing and degrading obstacles, wliich have go rnth- 
lessly laid waste the honor and character of the race, ''toskMlk away and 
hiile in chaos." Then we will arise from oiir present inihappy situation, 
and in association with the wise and good, revolve in a sphere more ap- 
propriately commensurate with the dignity of humanity. Then will the 
charge of inferiority cease to be hurled at us. and victorious over all the 
elements that now serve to retard our advancement, we will prove to the 
world that our station is, and shoidd be, in the galaxy of earth's grandest, 
proudest, and best races. • 



K. 

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON ADDRESS. 

Three years ago, last month, there assembled in this city what at the 
time was generally believed would be ;he last national gathering of col- 
ored men to consider their relations to and interests in this country as a 
distinct eleinent. 

The rapidity with which the race had passed from the lowest status to 
a common level before the law with the most favored in the land, wai- 
ranted the belief that the day of our complete deliverance from all forms 
of prejudice, oppression, wi-ong and outrage was near at hand, and with 
its glorious dawn we would merge into the connnon brotherhood of the 
nation, forming a part of a homogeneous, contented and happy people. 
Hut that fond delusion has been dispelled. We find ourselves compelled 
by circumstances of the gravest nature to meet again to consider the edu- 
caiional, moral, material and political interests of our people, and to state 
our grievances to the countrj-. 

It has been said by one of the distinguished men of this counti-y, one 
who has contributed as much toward siiaping the ideas and sentiments 
of th(; American pi-tiple as any other man, living or dead, "that agitation 
is the method that i)lants the school by the side of the ballot-box, Agi- 
t:it ion prevents rebellion, keeps the peace and secures progres>. Every 
si<'p she gains is gained forever. Agitation is the atmosphere of brains,'' 
If in th(i past agitation has been the elementary power whicli has served 
to ciystallize and mould public opinion into law — lias really formed the 
basis of a true govei-iuncnt, in order to arouse public sentiment in liehalf 
of our rights, we deem it expedient to resort to agitation as being the 
siu'e and proper method liy which to reach the ears of the American peo- 
ple, and thereby obtain fully the sacred rights which we are by nature 
and the laws of the country, of which we form a component part, enti- 
tled to. 

Fifteen years have elapsed since onremancipation, and though we have 
made materi.d advancement as (Mti/eus, yet we ;u-e forced to admit thai 
obstacles have been constantly thrown in our way to obstruct and i-etard 
our ])rogr(->. Our toil is >lill unre(iuited, liardly less under freedom than 
slavery, wherel)y W(! are sadly oppivssed by poverty and ignorance, and 
consequently prevented from en.)oying the blessings of liberty, while wc 
are left to the sliame and contempt of all mankind. This unfortmiate 
state of aflairs i> because of the intolerant spii-it exhibited on the pait of 
Ihe men who control rbc Stale govi-rinnents of tlie Soutli to-day. Free 
speech in many localities is not tolerated. The lawful exercise wf the 
rights of citizenship is denied when majoritiis must be overcome. Pro- 
.seription meets us on every liand ; in the scliool-room, in the church that 



APPENDIX. 9.S 

sings praises lo llial (ioi! who in:nk' of one blood all IliP iiatiinis of the 
earth; in i)la(jrs of puhlic anmseincnr, in thi' jury-box aii'l in the local 
affairs of g-ovornment \v ■ arr practically denied the rights and privileges 
of freemen. 

We cannot expect to rise to the dignity of trut; manluKxl under the sys- 
tem of hibor and pay as practically carried out in some portions of the 
South to-day. Wages are low at best, but when paid in scrip having no 
purchasing power beyond the prescribed liinitsof the land owner, it must 
appear obviously plain tliat our condition must ever remain the same; 
but with a fair adjustment between capital and labor, we, as a i-ace, by 
our own industry, would soon be placed beyond want, and in a self-sus- 
taining condition. 

Our people in the North, wiiile free from many outrages practiced oil 
our brethren in the South, are not wholly exempt fi-om unjust discrimin- 
ations. Caste prejudices have sultieient sway to exclude them from the 
workshop, trades, and other avenues of remunerative business and ad- 
vancement. 

Wo realize that education is the potent lever by which we are to be ele- 
vat(>d to the plane of useful citizenship. We have the disposition and 
natural ability to acquire and utilize knowledge when equal facilities air 
accorded, butVe are denied the necessary advantages, owing to the de- 
fective connnon- school system and non-enforcement of laws in most of 
tlie Southern States. We therefore favor andreconnnend a national edu- 
cational system embracing advantages for all. the same to be sustained by 
the proceeds derived fronl the sale of public lands. 

Wholly unbiased by party considerations, we contemplate the lament- 
able political condition of o'ur people, especially in the South, with grave 
and serious apprehensions for the future. Having been given the ballot 
for the protection of our rights, we tind, through systematic intimidation, 
outrage, violence and murder, our votes have been suppressed, and the 
power thus given us has been made a weapon against us. 

The migratigu of the colored people now going on from several of the 
Southern States, has assumed snch proportions as to demand the calm and 
deliberate consideration of every thoughtful citizen of the cotnitry. It is 
the result of no idle curiosity, or disposition to evade labor. It proceeds 
upon the assumption that "there is a combination of well-planned and 
systematic purposes to still fiuther abridge their rights and privileges, and 
i-educe them to a state of actual serfdom, ft is declared in Holy Writ ''that 
the ox that treadeth out the corn shall not be muzzled." 

If their labor is valuable, it should be respected. If it is demonstrated 
that it cannot command respect in the South there is but one alternative, 
and that is to emio-iate. But a< the South possesses many advantages for 
them, they would prefer to remiin there if they could peaceably enjoy the 
rigiits and privileges to which they are l(>gally entitled and receive fair 
and equitable remuneration for their labor. The disposition to leave the 
couimunities in which they feel insecure, is an evidence of a healtliy 
growth in manly indepeud'ence. and should receive the commendation 
and support of all philanthropists. We, therefore, Lieartily indorse the 
National Emigration Aid Society recently organized at Washington, D. 
C, and bespeak for it a successful issue in its laudable undertaking. 

We view witli gratification the recent efforts of the planters of Missis- 
sippi and Louisiana, at the Vicksburg Convention, to effect an adjustment 
of tlie labor troubles existing in that section of the country. Believing 
that through such movements it is possible to establish fritnidly relations, 
adjust all differences between the races, and secure a final and satisfac- 
tory settlement of the grave causes underlying the unsettled and inhar- 
monious condition of affairs now obtaining among them at the South, we 
would respectfully recommend to both classes the adoption of sunilar 



j-> 



96 APPENDIX. 

action in tlic future for tlie settleineiit of all disturbing pul)lic questions 
which may arise between them. 

Having said so much witli regard to tlie disabilities under whlcii we labor 
on account of iiitluences over wliich we have no control, we are not un- 
mindful of the all-important fact that we are to a great extent the archi- 
tects of our own fortunes, and must rely mainly on our own exertions for 
success. We, therefore, recommend to the youth of our race the observ- 
ance of strict moralitj', temperate habits and the pi-actice of economy, the 
acquisition of land, the ac(]uiring agricultural education, of advancing to 
mercantile positions and ft)rcing tlieir way into the various productive 
channels of literature, art, science and mechanism. The sooner a knowl- 
edge of our ability to achieve success in these directions is acquired, the 
sooner we will overcome the apparentlj^ insiu-mountable obstacles to our 
elevation. 

In the struggle for independence our blood mingled with that of the 
white man in defense of a common cause. AVhen our flag was insulted 
on the high seas and naturalized citizens outraged, we sprang promptly 
to our countrj''s call in the war which followed. We did not stop to con- 
sider the fact that, although Americans, we were not citizens; that, 
although soldiers, we were not freemen. In the war of the rebellion, 
after emancipation, we responded by thousands in the country's defense; 
and on the high seas, in tented camp and rille parapets, the prejudice of 
race and caste were forgotten in the heat of conflict, and the cause of 
secession disappeared beneath the bodies of white and black alike. In 
the light of these facts we demand, in the name of the citizenship conferred 
by the organic law of the land, in the name of humanity and Christian 
brotherliood, the same treatment accorded the other nationalities of (hw 
connnon countrj' — nothing more, nothing less. If the government has 
the right to make us citizens, surely it has the power to enforce the laws 
made for our pi'otection. We have readied a crisis in the history of tiie 
race, ^V'^ith us it is a question of citizenship upheld by the moral senti- 
ment of the country and protected by its physical power, or of citizenship 
in name invaded, outraged and winked at whenever partly necessities and 
exigencies require the stifling of the will of a majority in tlie interest of 
party ascendency — more than tliat, it is a question of life and existence 
itself. We have submitted i)atiently to the wrongs and injustice which 
have been heaped upon us, trusting that in the fullness of time a gener- 
ous and humane i)Ublic sentiment would bring to our relief the enforce- 
ment of all laws passed for our protection. If the nation desires to main- 
tain the proud position it has attained, it must say and prove to the world 
that every man in our midst is free and equal, and that the same means 
will be used to protect its colored citizens in tlie right of citizenship as 
have been used to avenge tlie insults and outrages against tlie country's 
flag; and for tiie accomplishment of these ends, we invoke the prayers and 
sympathies of all liberty-loving citizens. 



IlKMARlvSOF EX-GOVERXOR PIXCHBACK. 



APPENDIX. 97 

pense necessary to attend a conference with us. But I am glad the propo- 
sition was abandoned, and that our Northern brethren were invited and 
are here to-day to aid us in our deliberations. I am glad to welcome 
among us such a man as Mr. Wm. Still, of Philadelphia, whose learning, 
high moral character and devotion to the interests of his race command 
for his utterances respectfid attention throughout the country. I know 
far better than the gentleman from Kentucky rhe condition of the colored 
people in the Xorth. Tliey were not freed until the shackles were struck 
olf their Sonthern brethren. [Applause.] The opponents of the Confer- 
ence predicted that it, like all colored conventions, would amount to 
nothing, except to fiu-nish an opportunity to a number of brainless 
blatherskites to rise to " pints" of order, privilege rxuestions, questions 
of information and the like, but 1 am glad to know that it will be pro- 
ductive of good, although we have a few of that class here who insist upon 
inteiTupting our proceedings. The eloquent, moderate and manly speecli 
of our worthy president has done much for the success of our Conference. 
It has drawn from the Nashville American — a paper not very friendly to 
us — the admission that there is intelligence, moderation, and frankness 
and safe leadership among us. Let us demonstrate this fact by listening 
to such men as Lynch, Rainey and others, and not take up the time of 
this body with points of order. 

The speaker then rapidlj^ reviewed the causes which led to the forma- 
ti<jn of tlie Republican party and the liberation of the colored man. He 
contrasted the time when the colored men were slaves, and now when 
they were sitting in conference in the proud capital of a Southern State. 
The colored man was the favored child of the nation, and the time had 
now arrived when public opinion had said, •• You have done enough for 
him." Emancipated and enfranchised, with every means possessed by 
the white man for his protection, the country expects us to protect our- 
selves. Our wives and daughters are as dear to us, and our homes as sa- 
cred as those of the white man, and we must defend and protect them 
precisely as the white man does. 

" Now, Mr. Reporter," said Governor Pinchback, '"don't put me dowu 
as an incendiary and exciting my people to violence. I am only advising 
thein to do just what you would do, or any other white man when struck, 
to strike back. For I will tell these people they may go to Kansas or else- 
whei'e, and if thej' act there as they do here, they will not escape persecu- 
tion. Races, like individuals, must protect themselves. If you will show 
me a man that will let everybody hit and kick him about, I will show 
you a man that everybod}^ is kicking ; and the same is true of races. It 
has been circulated all over Nashville that I came here to oppose emigra- 
tion, and to commit this Conference against it. This is not so. I am 
one of those who believe it to be the duty of every man aspiring to lead- 
ership in a crisis like this to tell the people what he i-egards as tiie truth. 
He who follows in the wake of the multitude is not fit for leadei'ship. 1 
know it is sweet to have the popular applause, and I love it as dear as 
any other man, but I trust I shall never obtain it at the sacrilice of duty. 
1 am not opposed to systematic emigration. If you can sell your pi'op- 
erty for anything like its value — not sacrifice or give it away — and go 
witli sufficient to establish yourselves in your new homes, I say go, but I 
am not in favor of indiscriminate emigration. To mislead the ignorant 
masses at a time like this, when such grave consequences are involved, I 
rhink will be not only a mistake but a crime." 

A passing reference was made bj' the speaker to the .Jews, who, a few 
years ago, did not own a foot of land in Europe. Now one of that de- 
spised race was the Premier of England, and the Rotliscliilds hold the 
key of the money treasures of Europe. 

The deplorable condition of Ireland a few years ago, was also given a 

7 



98 APPENDIX* 

passing notice. The Irish people revered Daniel O'Connell, but whoni 
do the colored men lionor among their race? 

The love and respect of the wlaite race for their prominent men, which 
is one of the secrets of tlieir success, is illustrated in the Soutli by the rev- 
erence they have for the memory of Eobert E. Lee. In its great centers 
monument piles are erected to perpetuate his memory. The whole coun- 
try loves General Grant and delights to honor him. Starting as the col- 
onel of an Illinois volunteer regiment, he passes up through every grade 
of rank known to the army, and having no more honors to confer in re- 
cognition of his services, the rank of lieutenant-general was created and 
conferred upon him ; not satisfied with that the rank of general was es- 
tablished and he was made general ; not satisfied Avith that he was elected 
President of the United States ; not satisfied with that he was elected for 
the second term, and I believe I reflect the Republican sentiment of the 
country when I say it is their desire to elect Mm for a third term. [Im- 
mense applause.] 

We, alone, of all the races, have no leaders. I lay no claim to leader- 
ship, but if I did, I would not lead some of you. 

Here a delegate inquired if Governor Pinchback meant anything per- 
sonal. 

"No; I do not mean the whole Conference," said the Governor, "but 
those who have so persistently disturbed the proceedings." 

Governor Pinchback closed his remarks as follows : 

"Mr. President and gentlemen of the Conference, in my labors for the 
advancement and elevation of the race, I am not altogether unselfish. I 
am laboring to make the road through life for my children easier than it 
was for myself ; and if, when at last called to answer the dread com- 
mand, 'Dust to dust,' I can feel like Toussaint L'Overtiu-e, wlien he was 
borne away from his home by Napoleon's soldiers, pointing back to it, 
said : ' You think you have destroyed the tree of liberty ; 1 am only a 
branch ; I have planted the tree itself so deep that ages can never root 
it up ' — I shall be amply rewarded." [Great applause,] 



M. 

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON PRESS. 

We hail with pride the successfid operation of a number of papers 
owniid and controlled by colored men. Though their numbers are few, 
(between 20 and 30,) still they arc siitficieiit in luimber and quality to 
prove tiiat we may bcconui snceessfnl in the hitherto almost untrlL-d fields 
of journalisia. 'It is not only a prerogative, but a bounden duty, to enter 
evc-ry branch of industry that tends to eidighten and elevate, and none 
m(»re ecirtainly (conduces to that end than intelligent .iournalisni. 

As ill every industry, the pionuers in this profession are called upon to 
" bear the burden and heat of the d.iy." They run the race patiently 
and with perseverance, hoping that in due time they shall reap their re- 
ward. 

Colored papers are generally the result of a labor of love. Few of 
them are reiuiiiierntive ; few appreciated ; but ther proprietors labor on, 
partly (!om|)eiisiite(j by the coiivietioii that tiiey an; doing a duty, and 
partly in the liope of ulliiiiate success. 

We siiouid rally to tiic support of our journals, because they are the 
especial and natural conservators of our rights, willing to defend us when 



APPENDIX. 99 

aiid wherever assailed. However fairly the organs of the white people 
may be disposed to act, still their iiaturul prejudices will invariably tinge 
their reports witli injustice. No one can speuk for us so satisfactorily as 
we can speak for ourselves. By a system of well-conducted papers we 
will be brought in close communion with one another, and in this way 
greatly promote race unity. 

Our talented persons Avill lind a channel through which their best 
thoughts may flow. Our comnuuiities can b(^ educated by a propei- sense 
of appreciation of our own workmen. Our rights can be asserted and de- 
manded, not by persons actuated only by a sense of right, but by those 
who are the sufferers and speak from experience. Iiitelligence begets 
independence, and as we become a reading people we should be well sup- 
plied with such papers as present the dark side of current questions, as 
well as the bright side, to the end that oin- independence be judicious and 
reasonable. 

In consideration of these and other advantages, we earnestly desire to 
present this matter to every colored person, with the hope that it will be 
viewed in tlie light of its great necessity. We appeal to every one of the 
race to select some good, responsible colored journal, and give it cheer- 
ful financial support. Do not magnify failings nor impugn its honest 
motives, but judge it witli that leniency deservedly due to apprentice- 
shi}) in every branch of industry. 

By tlie united support of the race our journals will become paying in- 
stitutions ; their editors will be enabled to render better service; the 
rights of the people will be better protected, and the general intelligence 
faithfully reflected through their columns will connnand universal re- 
spect, and will tend in a great degree to that place among other races 
that only true merit can win, 

RESOLUTIONS. 

By Committee on Press : 

Whereas the press of any nation is a true exponent of its mental and 
moral worth; 

Wliereas the progress of tlie colored people will be greatly facilitated 
and exemplified by intelligent, well-sustained colored journals; 

Resolved, That we consider ourselves in duty bound, and hereby urge 
every colored person to give hearty support to the maintenance of an en- 
lightened colored press. 

By ex-Congressman Rainey, South Carolina : 

Resolved, That the secretaries of this Conference be, and are hereby, 
authorized to compile the minutes of our proceedings, and publish the 
same in pamphlet form. 

By J, W. Wilson, Missouri : 

Resolved, That the colored press should take a decided stand for free, 
unrestricted and equal school privileges for colored children, and in local- 
ities where separate schools only are supported it should use every exer- 
tion to have only colored teachers employed in the colored schools. 

By P'erdinand L. Barnett, Illinois : 

Whereas the custom of spelling the word '• Negro" without a capital 
letter is ajjpai'ently the outgrowtii of prejudice against tiiat race ; 

Resolved, That we call attention to the error, and request the Ameri- 
can Press to correct the same. 

Respectfully submitted, 
F. L. Barnett, Illinois; W. F, Anderson, Tennessee; David Wilson, Mi'^- 
sissippi; Bishop Wm. H. Miles, Kentucky; Jas. D. Kennedy, Louisi- 



100 APPENDIX. 

ana; W. R. T^awton, Missouri; David A. Robinson, Arkansas; Sam'l 
Lowery, Alabama; C. G. Winibusb, Geoi-^ia; J. W. Cromwell, Vir- 
-j-inia; J. H. S. Parker, District of Columbia; Ricliard Allen, Texas; 
f). Jones, Ore<ron; Joini D. Lewis, Pennsylvania; Col. Robt. Harlan, 
Ohio; H. G. Newsom, Nebraska; T. W. Henderson, Kansas; J. W. 
James, Indiana; Hon. J. H. Rainey, South Carolina; S. E. Hardy, 
Minnesota — Commitiee, 



N. 
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON MIGRATION. 

To the honvrabh the Chairman and the Membera of the Colored Men's 

National Conference: 

Your coniniittee appointed to take under consideration the subject rel- 
ative to the present migration of the colored people from certain South- 
ern States to certain Northern States, having had the same under con- 
sideration, by leave do respectfully report as follows : 

Taking into consideration the self-evident fact that oppression, intimi- 
dation and violence of lawless men have and do now exist — men who 
continue to outrage the rights and privileges granted said colored people 
by the Constitution of the United States, and render it almost, if not quite 
so, unpossible for colored men to exercise with any degree of safety any 
of the rights, privileges, or immunities of American citizens, your com- 
mittee is of the opinion that this exodus owes its origin to this fact more 
tiian any other. Your committee would further report that they have 
carefully examined the resolutrons and pa})ers referred to this committee, 
and after mature deliberation have concluded to report to your hon- 
orable body in accordance with the resolution, adopted by you in Thurs- 
day's session to wit, dividing the subject under various headings. 

FlKST— 7'Ae Causes. The causes that have given rise to the migra- 
tion among the colored people of the South are so generally known, and 
so numerous, that neither time nor space is at the command of your com- 
mittee to enumerate them here. These are, however, some of the most 
l>otent causes which can be easily produced, and which will not occupy 
nnich time and space. 

1. This migration movement is based on a determined and irrepressible 
desire, on the part of tlie colored people of the South, to go anywhere 
where they can escape the cruel treatment and continued threats of the 
dominant race in the South. 

They are now told, and in addition thereto made to feel, the full force 
of this declaration : That this is a wiiitc man's government, and that 
none; but white men siiall govern it, rule in it, or dominate it. This 
ileclaration, in tlie opinion of every thinking man, is but Southern exem- 
plification and revivication of the infamous partisan-accepted decision of 
tlie late Judge Taney, " that aNegi-o has no rights which a wliite man is 
bound to respect." Reason, sense, and justice have stamped this un- 
righteous verdict out from tlie statutes of our land ; but it lias found an 
abiding place in the South, and it is to-day one of tiieir most cherished 
and faithfully-executed dogmas. Following up tins pernicious creed, 
false as it is, tliose who insist on a wliitc man's government will not stop 
short of any means to liiactically disfrancliise all who are not white men, 
on the grounds tliat all white men liave equal rights, and that all other 
colors have just sucii rights as the whites may please to accord them. 



APPENDIX. 101 

As citizens of tlie States in the South and of the United States, the 
colored people of the South, invested with the lif^hts, preiojjjatives, and 
high privileges of citizenship by the national Congress, do dispute the title 
of the white man to the sole goverinnent of this countrj^, whether he is 
situated in South Carolina or Massachusetts, Louisiana or Kansas. 

It is also a well-knowai fact that during the past two years the Demo- 
cratic party in the South has had entire control of all their respective 
State govenunents, until the South has, under such control, passed into 
the proverb, -'the solid South." They have, in plain words, their own 
local self-governments, and in every instance it has resulted in handing 
over every Southern State to Democratic rule, wdiether they were en- 
titled to it' or not. The colored people of the South have closely watolied 
events that have transpired under this new order of things. They have 
felt keenly the policy which transferred rhera from a National and Kt^pul)- 
lican protection — so far as ' their lives and rights were concerned — to a 
solid Democratic South, against which the Southern Negro had so deter- 
minedly and persistently voted since he possessed tlie right to vote. 

But even then we did not hear of any extended migration movement on 
the part of the colored people so transferred. No, not even because 
Democracy and the champions and defenders of a white man's govern- 
ment had obtained complete control of their votes, their rights— aye, 
even their lives. It is only now, after two years' experience of the true 
inwardness of Democratic "rule from a Southern standpoint, that the col- 
ored people are lleeing from what they Justly consider the inadequate- 
ness, unwillingness, or downright refusal and failure— call it what you 
will — of the Democratic party to protect them in their civil, religious, and 
political rights. 

2, Another and important cause is the almost, if not the total, failure on 
the part of any Democrafic State administration in the South to faith- 
fully carry out and perform their promises made to the colored people 
when sai(J Democracy assumed control of their respective State govern- 
ments. 

The whole country knows what those Democratic promises were— made 
in some instances through Democratic orators, newspapers, conven- 
tions, but more notably, and in many instances, through legislative 
enactments. They were telegraphed all over the country, and published 
in nearly every newspaper in'the land. We were to have no more politi- 
cal proscription ; no more murders for political or color causes. The 
courts were to protect their black as well as their white citizens. The 
wdiite lion and the black lamb were to lie down together, and a local 
democratic self-government was to lead them toward a new era of peace, 
prosperity, and good will to all men in the Southern States. Need we 
ask, have these legislative promises been kept? True, Democracy has 
•• led " the colored man ; but it has led him to believe that any place 
is better for him than his present home. 

In the short space of two j'ears the Democratic party of the South has 
fully satisfied the colored people here that they are not the safe custodians 
of theii- political and civil rights. They also find that the political prejudices 
of the Democratic party are paramount to all promises heretofore made by 
the representatives of said party ; for, be it remembered, these promises 
were not made to the colored people alone, but to the Federal Govei-n- 
ment and the people of the United States ; and the colored man naturally 
argues that if the Democratic party of the South proves false to promises 
made to such high authorities, he certainly has no hope for their bemg 
carried out with him. He has been made to feel, very sensibly, that 
the more vigorously he remonstrates against Democratic rule by the bal- 
lot, the greater the disfavor in which he stands, and the larger the meas- 
ure of the local denial of his constitutional rights. 



102 APPENDIX. 

Finally, as to the causes : The colored people of the Southern States 
li.we become thorouj^hly alarmed at the constant attacks on their political 
and civil rights, not only by legislative enactments and verdicts of courts, 
but more especiallj' through and by the medium of State constitutional 
conventions. These conventions have been called in neai-ly every State 
once ruled by Kepublicans, but now under the rule of the Democratic 
l)arty. In every instance the openly-avowed object for the holding of 
these constitutional conventions by Democrats is to overtm'u and repeal 
all laws passed by Republican conventions or legislatures looking toward 
the protection of colored people in all of their political, civil, and educa- 
tional rigiits. In nearly every instance whenever these conventions have 
been held by Democrats, restrictions upon the rights of colored people 
have been enacted and passed to the statute-books of the State. These 
Democratic enactments have made the colored people the target for so- 
called vagrant laws, unjust poll-taxes, and curtailed educational advan- 
tages, and all legislation has been toward enfeebling them in all that Repub- 
lican legislation strengthened and protected them. 

The colored people of the South have no way, of judging whatj Democ- 
racy in that section of the' country will do in the future, only by what 
they are now doing and have done in the past ; and, judging by that, 
they have come to the conclusion that it is better to fly to evils (if any 
there be) they know not of, rather than to continue under the present 
evils, to which the}' have fallen heir through a Democratic bequest. 

Second. — Is there any truth in the report, that it is a scheme gotten 
up to irate the North against the South i* 

Your committee think it unjust to attribute this exodus or migration of 
colored people from the South to any such motives. It might as well 
be charged that such alone were the motives of the early abolitionist 
who demanded liberty for the slaves, and who Ijcrished in his demands 
until slavery was abolished. His scheme was founded on righteousness, 
justice, and right ; and if at this time certain men of the North are to-day 
demanding civil, religious, and political rights for tlie freedmen of the 
South at home if possible, elsewhere if necessary ; they are but making a 
grand finale of the original human undertaking of their predecessors who 
labored so faithfully that slavery should be abolished from our land. 
There may be, in some instances, those who would exult over the de- 
population of the South, of her laboring classes, but such is not the great 
underlyliig principle of this exodus. This emigration scheme is not a 
spurt or sudden impulse, but the culmination of events which have been 
in an embrj'o condition since the war. 

You will, doubtless, remember that near the close of the late war an 
effort was made to remove the colored people of the Southern States to 
Liberia, and for that purpose monej'' was contributed by individuals, and 
the scheme started. It did not, however, succeed, owing to a disinclina- 
tion of any great number of colored people to avail themselves of an op- 
portunity to leave the United States. Another Liberian emigration 
sciieme was started last year in South Carolina, but did not accomplish 
nnich. But these two instances ditler materiallj^ from the present mi- 
gration ; while the colored p<'opl(' have always exhibited a disinclination 
to leave th(! South for any foreign country, they have never exhibited a 
disinclination to leave any Southern State, where, under Democratic 
rule, their rights have been ciu-tailed or threatened. Notably is this the 
case in South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. A steady stream of colored 
peoph; from these States has been i)oui'ing into Mississippi and Louis- 
iana for the past four or five years, solely on account of the unjust laws 
enacted by Democratic constitutional coiiveiitioiis uml legislatun;s, whose 
principal achievements were the j-epeal of nearly every law passed by Re- 
publicans for their protection. They came into Louisiana and Mississippi 



APPtNDlX. 103 

because these States were under Repul»lican rule, and they left Ala- 
bama, Georgia, and other Southern States because they were under 
Southern Democratic rule. Surelj', if they left those States because of 
the evils in operation against them there, it is but natural that they 
should leave Mississippi and Louisiana, for they are experiencing the 
same there. There are no other Southern States for them to go to, 
consequently they will take Horace Greeley's advice, and go West. 

For these and nian.y other reasons which your committee could adihice, 
if time and space permitted, your committee is clearly of the opinion that 
the migration of the Southern colored people to Kansas and other Noith- 
ern States is not for the purpose of irritating the North against the 
South. 

Third. — What are the remedies to be pursued to stop the movement ? 
W^ould the colored people accept concessions if made to them ; and if so, 
of what nature ? 

This proposition, like the first one, is of such moment that j^our com- 
mittee could not find time or space at this time to enter into an extended 
argument on this subject. 

There is no desire on the part of the colored people of the South to 
deny the fact that they are thoroughly attached to their homes in tlie 
South, and would prefer remaining there than going anywhere else on 
earth. Indeed, so great is their love for the South that no ordinary con- 
sideration would induce them to abandon it. This declaration is amply 
proven by the fact that, although their former masters went into the re- 
bellion to continue and strengthen their system of slavery, the slaves 
i-emained quietly a*; home and tilled the soil and cared for the families of 
the absent Confedei'ate soldiers. When they were called into tlie service 
of the United States as soldiers, they served; but when they were dis- 
charged they returned to their former plantations, even as the Confeder- 
ate soldier returned to his home. When Abraham Lincoln proclaimed 
them free, they did not abandon their homes, except in some instances to 
follow the American flag as a protection to them in their newfound free- 
dom; and here they have attempted to stay, under all manner of infini- 
ties, outrages and wrong; but as these were perpetrated on him during 
the time that Republican laws were in the ascendency, he stayed, hoping 
in the final triumph of right over might. But to-day all this is changed. 
The Democi'aey rule; their promises to the colored people have not been 
kept; legislation, capital and one class of people are against them; he has 
been subjected to greater outrages under Democratic rule than ever be- 
fore under Republican rule; and even now their rights are further threat- 
ened. 

There must be no uncertain powerful public sentiment ni the country 
at large, and a returning sense of justice in the disturbed localities. To 
start with this course will be to suggest and apply correctives to the abuses 
which have brought about this migration, and the dominant class, con- 
vinced not only of the wickedness but the folly of their j)ioscnption, 
may so enforce the law as to secure to all citizens the enjoyment, piaeti- 
callj% of equality of rights. 

In this event the migration would be undoubtcdl}'^ checked, and even if 
it was persevered in, but comparatively few would aval) fliemselves of 
this dernier resort. However, it cannot successfully be denied that pro- 
scription and outrage against the colored people have obtained In eertulii 
localities to such an extent as to breed profound discontent and prev- 
alent restlessness in many communities, and which nuist be absolutely 
and unmistakably allayed in order to estop this flight of the colored peo- 
ple out from their modern Egypt. 

We aflirm that only by the equal justice of laws grouping together the 
common interests oi all her citizens, regardless of race or parties; the 



104 



APPENDIX. 



strength of the united energies, minds and sinews of her whole people; 
the experience and maturity of the intellect and wisdom of her true sons; 
and tlie willing, eager tiiirst after protection in all their rigiits here at 
home, by her unfortunate colored citizens — freedom from persecution, 
violence and bloodsiied — by onh^ these just results can a i-emedy be found 
whicli will surely induce these people to remain. 

Fourth. — Have colored people pursued the wisest course by mi- 
grating ? 

Your committee simply answer this question by referring to the history 
of those wlio have in the past left their homes, tiresides and fortunes, and 
souglit perfect freedom from persecution, proscription and might triumph- 
ing over riglit, and gone fortli among strangers, in stx*ange lands, seelv- 
ipg for that which they were denied at home. 

Fifth. — Question. How is the movement likely to atiect the two polit- 
ical parties in the next canvass, both State and national ? 

Answer. The political effect of this migration is afar off, and in our 
opinion, considerably removed from the next campaign. If, undei- the 
existing state of aftairs, tliey all stay, tlie South is hopelessh' Democratic, 
although there are more Republicans in the Southern States than Demo- 
crats. If tliey are compelled to leave — why, the Southern States are Dem- 
ocratic still. So much for the State. Nationally it will be some time 
before the Southern States would be made to feel the loss of her colored 
voters, probably not until after the next United States census is talveu, 
when each Southern State may tind herself minus one or more Con- 
gressmen, and this loss added to the representation of some Northern 
State. 

But the Negro of the South does not desire to predicate his right to free 
suffrage on the score of controlling tiie offices in the gift of his party alone: 
lie believes tliat his duty as a voter is tliat he may assist in perpetuat- 
ing this Union against those who may, in tlie future, attempt, as they did 
in the past, to destroy it, or even separate it. The Negro voter of the 
South believes, and takes pride in that belief, that their" votes are neces- 
sary to support, sustain and perpetuate the great piinciples of the Repul)- 
lican party, and further the scheme of universal sufFrage, a united coun- 
try and a prosperous, liappy future for all lier citizens, iri'espective of 
race, color, nationality or party. 

In the South especially has the Negro been led to believe that his vote 
was necessary to keep tlie Southern States within the Union, and to assist 
in reorganizing these States in keeping with the Constitution of our land. 
How well he has performed his duty,'with wliat tidelity and faithfulness, 
and at what sacrifices he has carried his sacred responsibilities, need not 
be n^peated liere. 

What the Negro voter of the South demands politically is not the mere 
vote. What he demands is that it sliall be as safe to deposit a colored 
llepublican vote in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi or Louisiana, as it is to 
cast a while Republican vote in New York, Pennsylvania or Massacliu- 
setts. He demands that Republicanism in the South, whether successful 
or otlierwise, shall be as safe and free from terrorism as it is in the North. 
Nothing short of this will satisfy the colored voter of the South, and if he 
cannot enjoy tliese natural privileges in tlie South, he will be pretty apt 
to seek souk; other jilace within the United States where he can exercise 
tliem without fear or hindrance. 

Question. Any other remarks Or observations tliat may occur to you? 

Answer. We have already said so much on the subject that it is hardly 
neces-;ary for us to ad<l any more in the shape of remarks or observa- 
tions. 

The coloi-ed people, by their involuntary pilgrimasre hence for sonie 
spot ill thin country where they can live a«; freemen, free to vote and act 



APPENDIX. 105 

in all that belong to American citizens, sweep away the oft-ropeateil 
declaration of Democratic orators, Con,ii-rc:«smen and newspapers, that 
under Democratic rule the Negro of the Soutii was better oil', better con- 
tentedyand better protected than he was under Republican rule. South- 
ern Democratic orators in Congress mAj assert that the Negro is quiet 
and contented under their government. They are (luicklyand decisively 
answered by the fact tliat tlicyare leaving their sunny Soutliern liomes for 
Nortlierii climes and the fullest liberty. Tliis exodus is an argiunent 
against tlie dechiration of their content, and an argument that can neither 
be gainsaid nor successfully denied. 

We beg leave to submit the following resolutions : 

Whereas the political and civil rights of the colored people from the 
Ohio River to the Gulf of Mexico are abridged and curtailed in every con- 
ceivable manner ; 

Whereas there seems to be no disposition on the part of the great ma- 
jority of Southern whites to better this condition of aftairs, or to grant 
the colored people their full rights of citizenship; and 

Whereas a further submission to the wrongs imposed, and a further 
acquiescence in the abrogation of our rights and privileges would prove 
us unfit for citizenship, devoid of manliood, and unworthy the respect of 
men ; therefore 

Resolved, That it is the sense of this Confei-ence that the great current 
of migration, which has, for the past few months, taken so many of our 
people from their homes in the South, and which is still carrying hundreds 
to the free and fertile West, should be encouraged and kept in motion until 
those who remain are accorded every right and privilege guaranteed by 
the Constitution and laws. 

Resolved, That we recommend great care on the part of those who 
migrate. They should leave home well prepared with certain knowledge 
of localities to whicli they intend to move ; money enough to pay their 
passage and enable them to begin life in their new homes with prospect 
of ultimate success. 

Resolved, That this Conference indorse the Windom Committee as the 
permanent National Executive Committee on migration. 

Resolved, That the American Protective Society, organized by this 
Conference, be, and are here])y, authorized and ordered to co-operate with 
the said committee in the earnest endeavor to secure homes in the West 
for those of our race who are denied the full enjoyment of American citi- 
zenship. 

We also recommend the adoption of the following resolution : 

Resolved, That tliis Conference recommend that the National Execu- 
tive Committee, of which Senator Windom is chairman, appoint a com- 
mittee of three to visit the Western States and Territories, and report not 
later than the 1st of November upon the health, climate, and productions 
of said States and Territories. 

Hon. J. 'J\ Rapier. Alabama; George N. Perkins, Arkansas; J. C, Napier, 
Tennessee; R. W. Fitzhugli, Mississippi; G. W. Gentry, Kentucky; Hon. 
J. H. Burch, Louisiana; W. R. Lawton, Missouri; W. B. Higginbotham, 
Georgia; .John Averett, Virginia; J. H. S. Parker, District of Colum- 
bia; B. F. Williams, Texas; D. .Jones, Oregon; .John D. Lewis, Penn- 
sylvajaia; F. L. Barnett, Illinois; Colonel Robei-t Harlan, Oliio; H. G, 
Newsom, Nebraska; Hon. J. H. Rainey, South Carolina; S. E. Hardy, 
Minnesota; G. L. Knox, Indiana — Committee. 

8 



106 APPENDIX. 

o. 

COMMUNICATION ON THE SUBJECT OF MIGRATION. 

Washington, D. C, May 5, 1879. 

To the President and Members of the National Conference of Colored 

Men, assembled at Nashville, Tennessee : 

Gentlemen : Having been associated with our fellow-citizens who 
united in tiie call for this Conference, and having been selected by the 
Executive Committee to introduce discusssion here upon the subject of 
migration, and tinding it impossible, on account of the pressing duties of 
my position at this time, to attend the Conference, I talce the liberty of 
addressing j-ou this note. Happily for me, and perhaps for us all, thou- 
sands on tliousands of our brethren lately resident in tlie lower States of 
the Mississijipi Valley have introduced the discussion before us, and that, 
too, in tlie most effective manner, challenging the attention of the whole 
country by their spontaneous and sublime uprising. 

Migration from tlie South to tlie West is no longer a tlieory to be dis- 
cussed in reference to practicability and the wisdom of such action, but it 
is a fixed fact. Thousands have gone ; other thousands will follow. The' 
migration of the colored people from the South is but a repetition of the 
old, old story in human history. Ic is the last recourse of a rising, free 
and manly people to escape from evils wliich they cannot otherwise suc- 
cessfully resist. Believing, as I have for years, that this means is the best 
available to us of solving at least in part our difficulties in the South, I 
have earnestly advocated the measure everywhere. 

For many years to come it will be impossible for colored men to enjoy 
in the South the liberty and justice ordained by the Constitution of our 
country. The long habit of lordly authority on the one hand, and sub- 
jection of the masses on the other, cannot easily be put away. It is im- 
possible with the white people of the South at this day to regard the 
Negro as a man entitled to equal citizenship and consideration. They 
cannot think of him except as a servant, subject to orders, and whose 
first duty is to obey. Hence their difficulty when they would influence 
his conduct in attempting to do so by use of those means by which one 
free man should try to control another, by setting before him the motives 
of honor, prosperity, and reward. In their views of colored in- 
feriority and rightful subordination they are perfectly honest and sincere. 
But we should show them that we are equally honest and sincere in our 
objection to such consideration and the treatment that naturally follows, 
and we should be as positive and emphatic as a thunder-drum in affirm- 
ing the determination to submit to oppression no longer. Finally, as a 
Western man, familiar with its condition and wants, I affirm that there 
is room there for a full round million of this people. Only let them be 
distributed. We should avoid huddling together in any one State or com- 
munity. Let them spread abroad in all the great States and Territories 
of the great and growing West, and thus secure for themselves and their 
children the blessing of freedom, education, and justice. 

With heartfelt greeting, and the wish that you may have a harmonious 
and profitable session, believe me, yours, for the welfare of our race and 
the glory of our country, J. O. Embby. 



AprsKDix: lOT 

P. 

FINANCIAL REPORT. 

r(f7»nMS(5«.— Randall Brown, $1; T. A. Sykea, 1; T. W. T^tt, 1; L. A. 
Roberts, 1; B, A. J. Nixon, 1; A. F. A. Pope, 50 cents; J. H. Burrus, ♦!; 
W. F. Yeardlev, 1; J. C Napier, 1; W. F. Anderson, 1; J. M. Smith, 1; 
Dr. J. McKinly, 1; W. A. Henderson, 1; H. H. Thompson, 1; R. F. 
Boyd, 1; B. J. Hadley, 1; Wm. Sumner, 1; G. 11. Shaffer, 1; J. W. 
Orant, 1; J. H. Kelly, 1; M. F. Wamack, 1; Rev. D. Watkins, 1; Rev. 
<J. W. LeVere, 1; Rev. C. O. H. Thomas, $1; J. B. Bosley, $1; J. H. 
Hendricks, 1; W. C. Hodge, 1; S. Griffith, 50 cents. 

Mississippi.— J. R. Lynch, $1; Theo. H. Greene, 1; Rev. J. H. Bufford, 
1; S. P. Cheers, 1; D. Wilson, 1; R. W. Fitzhugh, 1; Thos. Richardson, 
1; B. G. Booth. 1; J. C. Matthews, 1; W. H. Maury, 1. 

Kentucky.— A. Allensworth, $1; John Garnett, 1; Horace Lewis, 1; W. 
H. Nichol, 1; G. W. Gentry, 1; G. W. Darden, 50 cents. 

Louisiana.— F. B. S. Plnchback, $1; J. H. Burch, 1; J. D. Kennedy, 
1; J. Lewis, 1; L. T. Kenner, 1; Charles A. Burgeois, 1. 

Missouri.— W . R. Lawton, $1; J. W. Wilson, 1. 

Arkansas.—^. W. Gibbs, $1; J. R. RoUand, 1; H. W. Watkins, 1; 
H. B. Robinson, 1; S. H. Holland, 1; F. B. Antoine, 1; J. P. Jones, 1; 
J. T. Jenifer, 1; George N. Perkins, 1; Isaac Gillam, 1; David A. Rob- 
inson, 1; M. G. Turner, 1. 

Alabajna.—U. C. Binford, $1; D. S. Brandon, 1; Rev. W. O. Lynch, 
1; Rev. J. M. Goodloe, 1; J. H. Thomason, 1; Rev. W. H. Ashe, 1; Hon. 
J. T. Rapier, 1; P. J. Crenshaw, 1; G. S. W. Lewis, 1; S. Lowry, 1; W. 
H. Councill, 1; Rev. W. H. McAlpine, 1; W. J. Stevens, 1; Rev. P. C. 
Murphv, 1; L. "W. Cummins. 1; H. V. Cashin, Esq., 1; David WQson, 

1; E. i). Pope, 1. . .X ^ , . 

Georgia.— C. C. Wimbush, $1; W. B. Higginbotham, 1; J. H. Delamot- 
ta, 1; R . R. Wi-ig ht,J,; S. C. Upshaw, 1; Madison Blunt, 1; W. A. 
PledgerTl; M.HTBentley, 1. , , , 

Indiana.— R. Nichols, $1; F. D. Morton, 1; Rev. G. McFariand, 1; 
J. A. Braboy, 1; Simon Daniels, 1; J. W. James, 1; Rev. W. H. Ander- 
son, 1; G. L. Knox, 1; J. H. Walker, 1. 

Virginia.— ;i. W. Cromwell, $1; John Averitt, 1; R. A. Perkms, 1. 

District of Columbia. — J. H. S. Parker, $1. 

Texas.— R. Allen, $1; B. R. Taylor, 1; E. H. Anderson, 1; B. F. 
WUUams, 1; N. W. Cuney, 1. 

Oregon. — Rev. D. Jones, $1. 

Pennsylvania.— 3. D. Lewis, $1; Hon. Wm. Still, 1. 

Illinois.— F. L. Barnett, $1; J. J. Bird, 1. 

Ohio. — Colonel R. Harlan, $1. 

Nebraska. — H. G. Newsom, $1. 

South Carolina.— Hon. J. H. Rainey, $1. 

Minnesota. — S. E. Hardy, $1. 

Kansas. — T. W. Henderson, $1. 



Several letters and papers from eminent gentlemen and associations in 
different parts of the country were submitted, which if published would 
swell this pamphlet far above its present size. As the net amount rau^ied 
by the conference did not meet one-half of the expense of publishing 
these proceedings, I trust it will be considered no lack of disrespect that 
these valuable papers do not now see the light. 
Respectfully, 

J. W. Ckomwkix, 

Compiler. 



:PK.I0E, 25 OE3SI"^jCS. 



PROCEEDINGS 



NATIONAL ('0NFERI:N('I': 



Of 



COLOR Kl) MEN OF THE UNITED STATES. 



HEID IV THi: 



STATE CAPITOL AT NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, 



Mav (), 7, 8 AXD 9. I87y. 



WASTIIN(}T(»X. T). C: 
llrii^ II |)M;i;v. Sii;\M Pii\vi;i; I'ltisril! 
IS7H. 






(l''.sl;il>lislie'(l ill I sTu 



CIKCULATKS IX THE DISTIMCT OF COLUMJUA 



A\i> I'Fn; 



NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, AND WEST. 

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